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THE  LIBRARY 

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OF  CALIFORNIA 

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GIROLAMO  SAVONAROLA 

1452—1498 


SAVONAROLA 


OR 


The  Reformation  of  a  City. 


With  Other  Addresses  on 
Civic  Righteousness. 


By  E.  L.  Powell,  LL.  D. 


LOUISVILLE: 
Sheltman   &   Company 

1903 


- 


■ 


•  .  >    ,     •  > 


Copyright.    1903, 
By  Sheltman  &  Co. 


1  «      *   «.    * 


BR 

/  or 
pi 


DEDICATION 


As  this  book  lays  no  claim  to  scholarship,  but 
-*' 
gj         is  sent  forth  in  the  hope  that  occasional  addresses 

prepared  in  a  busy  pastorate  may  exert  an  added 

influence   when   placed   upon   the   printed   page,   it 

;?         may  seem  somewhat  presumptuous  to  dedicate  such 

to 

cm         a  volume   to   an   old   and   honored    institution    of 

§  learning.  In  view  of  the  honor  recently  conferred 
upon  the  author  by  Kentucky  University — the  be- 
^  stowment  of  the  honorary  degree  which  is  placed 
^  on  the  title  page — and  as  expressive  of  his  appa- 
O       ciation   of   the   scholarship   and   ability   of   its   be- 


o 

^        loved  president,  this  book  is  modestly  dedicated  to 

UJ 

^        Kentucky  University. 

U 


45x7; 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The  Province  of  the  Preacher 5 

Savonarola,  or  the  Reformation  of  a  City 11 

The    Need    of    Prophet    Leaders 27 

Sleeping  Citizenship 39 

The  Citizen  on  Guard 47 

Public  Men  and  Morals 57 

The  Ministry  of  Warnings 67 

The  Imperialism  of  the  Gospel 79 

The  Early  Ideals  of  the  Republic 89 

The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic 99 

Our  Heroic  Dead 107   Vs     x 

The  Divine  Presence  in  Political  History 119 

Anarchy     125 

The   Woman    in    Politics 129 

Is  the  World  Growing  Better? 133 

The  Dignity  of  Man 143 


The  Province  of  the  Preacher* 


As  justifying  the  discussion  of  civic  questions  from  the 
pulpit  the  following  article  prepared  for  the  Louisville 
Courier-Journal,  may  serve  as  a  fitting  introduction  to  this 
little    book. 

In  the  first  place — to  follow  the  sermonic 
habit— the  preacher  is  a  man.  It  is  his  own 
fault  if  he  permit  himself  to  be  thought  of  as  an 
hybrid— neither  male  nor  female,  but  having  a 
sex  peculiar  to  himself.  He  has  a  man's  work 
to  do  in  the  world,  and  he  needs  a  man's  heart 
of  courage  to  get  it  done.  Why  should  it  be 
thought  that  the  pursuit  of  goodness  is  an  enter- 
prise suited  to  pale  and  colorless  individuals  or 
that  the  proclamation  of  righteousness  requires 
a  thin  and  tenuous  voice,  an  apologetic  air  and 
an  assumed  and  strained  mien  that  is  neither 
natural  nor  becoming?  How  does  it  happen 
that  the  preacher  should  be  caricatured  as  an  ut- 
terly forsaken,  woe-begone,  shrunken  and  shriv- 
eled creature,  whose  abject  attitude  invites  a 
kick  and  whose  mournful  countenance,  in  its  com- 
plete lack  of  intelligence,  suggests  neither  the 
repose  of  the  soulless  sphinx  nor  the  pathos  of 
blank  idiocy,  but  rather  the  sickly,  constrained 
and  embarrassed  features  of  the  gawk  and  pro- 
vincial? It  is  so  that  the  comic  papers  repre- 
sent him.  T  am  inclined  to  believe  that  this  no- 
tion  of  the  preacher  has  its  rise  in  superstition 
and  ignorance.  The  preacher  in  the  Apostolic 
Church  walks  like  a  man,  delivers  his  message  in 
the  language  of  men  and  moves  across  the  stage 
as  a  strong,  vigorous,  commanding  personality. 

o  Province    of    the   Preacher. 


Peter,  Paul,  James,  John— each  is  a  clearly- 
marked  individual  and  stands  erect  with  "bare, 
bold  brow"  and  feet  firmly  planted  on  the  solid 
earth.  When  these  men  preached,  their  audience 
said:  "They  are  turning  the  world  upside 
down. ' '  Their  presence  was  electric  with  power 
and  the  energy  of  the  elemental  forces  of  nature 
was  in  their  words  and  work.  They  had  about 
them  no  atmosphere  of  weakness.  They  were 
as  commanding  Generals  on  the  field  of  conflict. 
It  was  not  until  ecclesiasticism  was  born  that  the 
preacher  was  changed  from  the  flaming  herald 
and  passionate  evangelist  into  the  religious  of- 
■ficial,  belonging  to  an  establishment,  having  an 
esoteric  individuality,  supposed  by  many  to  be 
endowed  with  peculiar  and  magical  powers  and 
having  a  sort  of  monopoly  of  heavenly  and  spir- 
itual things  which  could  be  bestowed  on  others 
only  through  his  priestly  offices.  Gradually,  in 
this  way,  the  preacher  was  further  and  further 
removed  from  the  world  of  man  until  in  the 
average  thought  he  came  to  belong  to  another 
world  and  to  have  only  the  remotest  connection 
with  the  affairs  of  this  terrestrial  existence. 
And  so  the  preacher  presently  becomes  as  a 
heavenly  visitant,  who  does  not  dwell  in  the 
skies  and  who  is  not  at  home  on  the  earth.  It 
does  not  take  long  to  have  this  strange  figure— 
at  first  reverenced,  it  may  be,  as  being  possessed 
of  peculiar  and  magical  virtues — it  does  not 
take  long,  when  the  thought  of  the  preacher  as 
a  minister  has  supplanted  the  thought  of  him 
as  a  priest,  to  have  this  strange  and  uneasy 
figure   converted   into    ridicule    and    caricature. 

Province    •»/'    the    Preacher.  I> 


And  so  the  cartoonist  finds  in  the  preacher  a 
model  after  his  liking,  and  right  well  has  the 
model  been  used. 

If  one  is  asked  to  talk  about  his  work,  he  is 
not  only  pleased,  but  he  feels  himself  to  be  mas- 
ter of  the  situation.  He  knows  his  work.  He 
thinks  in  terms  of  his  work.  If  he  be  a  true 
workman  his  work  in  a  very  true  sense  is  the 
revelation  of  the  man.  Allowing  for  the  exag- 
geration, a  shoemaker  is  likely  to  measure  the 
world  by  shoe-strings,  a  grocer  to  think  in  terms 
of  tea  and  sugar,  a  carpenter  to  put  his  universe 
together  by  rule  of  thumb.  The  preacher  can 
talk  "shop"  with  the  rest.  And  this  leads  me 
to  ask  :  What  is  the  preacher's  world?  Answer 
might  be  made  that  he  is  the  messenger  of  relig- 
ion, or  to  employ  the  very  expressive  figure  of 
Ralph  Connor:  he  is  the  "sky  pilot."  But  when 
you  begin  to  think  of  what  religion  means — that 
it  has  to  do  with  all  life  and  the  use  of  all  things, 
that  it  claims  all  provinces  of  thought  and  ac- 
tivity for  its  territory — you  will  see  that  the 
preacher  as  a  messenger  of  religion  must  be  a 
many-sided  individual  and  must  touch  life  in 
one  way  or  another  at  almost  every  point.  The 
preacher  by  the  very  requirements  of  his  office 
and  work  must  be  cosmopolitan.  It  is  strange 
that  a  different  conception  of  tin1  preacher 
should  be  entertained.  Generally,  however,  he 
is  regarded  as  provincial  in  that  his  range  of 
thought  is  limited  by  certain  subject-matter 
denominated  religious  as  contradisti  111:11  ished 
from  all  the  real  and  vital  matters  of  human 
pursuit    aur]    endeavor,    and    consequently    the 

-  Province    of    the    Preacher. 


world  at  large  conceives  of  him  as  necessarily 
narrow  in  his  tastes  and  sympathies  and  service. 
The  explanation  of  this  view  of  the  preacher  is 
found  in  the  entirely  false  and  contracted  con- 
ception of  religion  entertained  by  the  average 
man.  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has  to  do 
with  all  men  and  all  things,  and  with  all  of  a 
man— body,  soul  apd  spirit.  And  he  who  would 
proclaim  that  religion,  must  be  "a  man  of  the 
world"  in  a  very  different  sense  from  that  in 
which  the  phrase  is  used.  There  must  be  no 
realm  that  is  foreign  to  his  endeavors.  The 
more  he  knows  of  life,  the  more  effectively  he 
can  bring  his  message  to  meet  the  recpiirements 
of  human  need. 

Should  the  preacher  enter  politics?  Cer- 
tainly not  as  a  profession,  but  in  the  proclama- 
tion of  righteousness  he  must  necessarily  have 
to  do  with  the  politician  and  with  the  affairs 
of  government  even  as  in  preaching  honesty, 
purity,  love,  he  is  declaring  principles  that 
touch  every  business  and  avocation  of  life. 
The  preacher  cannot  be  side-tracked  during  the 
week  or  given  to  understand  that  his  business 
belongs  to  Sunday  and  the  church.  Every  day 
is  his  day  of  opportunity ;  every  realm  is  his 
field  of  service  and  duty,  all  places,  if  they  be 
entered  in  the  spirit  of  his  Master,  furnish  him 
with  a  pulpit,  To  the  extent  that  preaching  be- 
comes a  mere  profession — having  to  do  with  cer- 
tain things  that  can  be  labeled  and  classified, 
the  preacher  is  provincial.  To  the  extent  that 
preaching  is  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  of 
life,  the  preacher  has  the  world,   in   the  words 

Province    of    the    Preacher.  S 


of  Wesley,  as  his  parish.  I  do  not  know  any  niaH 
who  requires  a  deeper,  richer  or  fuller  life  for 
his  work  than  does  the  preacher. 


Province    of    the    Preacher. 


SAVONAROLA, 

OR- 

The  Reformation  of  a  City. 

This  address  on  Savonarola  was  delivered  in  a  time  cif 
eager  discussion  as  to  the  prevalence  of  crime  in  the  city  of 
Louisville.  The  address  was  stenographieally  reported  by 
the    Louisville    Herald  . 

To-night  I  am  to  speak  to  you  of  Savonarola, 
or  the  Reformation  of  a  City.  It  is  a  thrilling 
story,  and  I  could  wish  myself  possessed  of  the 
power  to  tell  it  in  such  fashion  as  to  stir  your 
hearts  and  to  knit  your  souls  into  a  life-holding 
resolution  to  make  the  world  better  because  of 
your  presence  in  it.  It  is  narrated  that  when 
Luther  was  on  his  way  to  the  Diet  of  Worms 
he  kissed  the  picture  of  Savonarola.  It  is  an 
incident  no  less  .significant  than  beautiful. 
It  is  significant  because  Savonarola  prepar- 
ed the  way  for  the  work  of  Luther.  There 
are  four  great  names  which  precede  that  of 
Luther.  They  are  John  Wickliffe,  of  Eng- 
land; John  IIuss,  of  Bohemia;  John  Wessel,  of 
Germany,  and  Savonarola,  of  Italy.  They  have 
been  designated  "The  Morning  Stars  of  the 
Reformation."  They  constituted  the  dawn  of 
which  the  Sixteenth  century  reformation  was 
tin-  day,  and  of  these  four  names,  that  of  Savo- 
narola stands  forth  conspicuous  and  splendid. 

In  the  zenith  <»i'  his  fame,  and  when  at  the 
height  of  his  influence  ami  power  lie  was  a 
veritable  archangel  of  righteous  indignation 
and  flaming  energy.  In  sober  truth,  il  may  be 
said  of  him  that   In-  was  a  God-intoxicated  man. 

I  i  Savonarola 


We  feel  the  very  breath  of  the  Almighty  in  the 
tremendous  enthusiasm  and  passion  of  this  man 
as  he  smites  vice  with  whips  of  steel,  and  flings 
defiance  in  the  face  of  his  foes.  He  moves  across 
the  stage  of  history  as  an  irresistible  and  un- 
conquerable presence.  With  no  robes  of  office, 
he  is  sublime  in  the  simplicity  of  his  greatness. 
Tn  an  age  of  great  men,  in  a  century  that  gave 
to  us  Michael  Angelo.  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
Copernicus  and  Columbus,  in  an  age  when  the 
new  world  was  discovered,  the  name  and  fame 
of  this  humble  Monk  of  St.  Boniface  shines 
forth  with  undimmed  splendor.  In  a  time  of 
great  research  and  learning,  his  work  is  not 
thereby  minimized. 

Born  in  1423,  trained  by  a  religious  mother, 
his  childhood  marked  by  serious  thought  and 
prayer,  his  determination  to  enter  the  monaste- 
ry fixed  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  enters 
the  convent  of  St.  Dominico  at  Bologna,  and 
there  spends  eight  years  of  his  eventful  life. 
It  is  worth  while  for  us  to  remember,  my 
friends,  that  monasticism  has  given  to  the  world 
Fra  Angelico,  Catherine  of  Sienna,  Luther  and 
Savonarola.  This  does  not  prove  that  monas- 
ticism is  good.  It  proves  that.  C4od  uses  existing 
institutions,  whether  they  be  good  or  bad,  to 
train  and  to  develop  his  chosen  servants. 

And  so,  after  spending  eight  years  in  the 
monastery,  the  trained  and  disciplined  man 
comes  forth  to  begin  his  great  task.  He  appears 
first,  as  a  preacher  in  the  city  of  Ferrara,  his  na- 
tive town.  There  he  makes  but  little  impres- 
sion.      Then    he    comes    to    Florence— splendid 

Savonarola.  ]i> 


Florence,  the  light  of  Italy,  the  theater  of  his 
splendid  labors  and  his  death. 

We  must,  in  order  to  understand  this  man 
and  his  mission,  understand  as  well  the  charac- 
ter of  the  age  to  which  he  came,  and  the  charac- 
ter of  the  message  which  he  brought  to  that  age. 
But  what  was  his  ruling  passion?  Every  re- 
former has  had  some  dominant  thought  that 
has  mastered  him.  that  has  possessed  him,  that 
has  called  into  being  every  power,  every  facul- 
ty, every  energy  of  body  and  mind  and  soul. 
With  Moses  it  was  law;  with  Confucius  it  was 
morality;  with  Buddha  it  was  renunciation-, 
with  Luther  it  was  justification  by  faith ;  with 
Savonarola  it  was  righteousness.  He  comes 
with  the  spirit  and  power  of  the  old  Hebrew 
prophets.  He  is  John  the  Baptist  risen  from  the 
dead.  He  has  all  the  marks  of  the  prophet  upon 
him.  He  is  rugged:  he  is  intense:  his  brow  is 
furrowed  with  earnest,  anxious  thought  in  grap- 
pling with  awful  moral  conditions.  He  feels 
himself  commissioned  of  God.  He  speaks  as 
an  inspired  agent  of  Cod.  Compulsion  lays  its 
hand  upon  him.  He  must  speak.  The  fire  con- 
sumes his  bones.  All  of  the  marks  of  the  He- 
brew  prophet  you  discover  in  the  character, 
in  the  spirit,  in  the  personality  of  this  man. 
and  now.  when  you  think  of  the  age  to  which  he 
came,  you  will  understand  the  need  for  the  man 
and  his  message. 

It  was  an  age  of  culture,  an  age  character- 
ized by  the  refinements  of  an  intellectual  and 
wealthy  society.  Art  flourished,  architecture 
flourished,     learning     flourished,     but      history 

18  Savonarola. 


teaches  us  in  unmistakable  fashion  the  lesson 
that  the  most  splendid  outward  civilization  is 
compatible  with  the  deepest  infamy.  It  has 
been  said  that  "the  polished  Greeks,  the  world's 
masters  in  the  delights  of  language  and  in  range 
of  thought,  and  the  commanding  Komans,  over- 
awing the  earth  with  their  power,  were  little 
less  than  splendid  savages,  and  the  age  of  Louis 
XIV,  of  France,  spanning  so  long  a  period  of 
worldly  magnificence,  thronged  by  marshals 
bending  under  military  laurels,  and  enlivened 
by  the  unsurpassed  comedies  of  Moliere,  digni- 
fied by  the  tragic  genius  of  Corneille,  illumined 
by  the  splendors  of  Bossuet,  is  degraded  by  im- 
moralities that  cannot  be  mentioned  without  a 
blush,  by  a  heartlessness  in  comparison  with 
which  the  ice  of  Nova  Zembla  is  warm,  and 
by  a  succession  of  deeds  of  injustice  not  to  be 
washed  out  by  the  tears  of  all  the  recording 
angels  in  heaven."  Such,  precisely,  was  the  age 
to  which  Savonarola  brought  his  message.  There 
was  outward  respectability,  but  inward  rotten- 
ness. 

Lorenzo  de  Medici,  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent, 
was  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame  and  popularity. 
Tie  had  made  Florence  the  idol  of  his  heart,  he 
had  made  her  a  city  of  palaces,  and  her  neigh- 
borhood a  garden  of  delights.  When  Savo- 
narola came  to  Florence  he  greeted  a  Queen  in 
beauty  and  in  power.  He  found  there  170 
churches,  representing  the  very  highest  forms 
of  architecture,  and  the  magnificent  cathedral 
of  the  Duomo,  far-famed  in  history.  The  deep 
notes   of   the   organ   were   heard,    the    gorgeous 

Savonarola.  ]4 


ritual  of  religion  was  not  neglected,  the  long- 
drawn  aisles  and  fretted  roof,  and  the  dim,  sub- 
dued lights — all  were  there.  Savonarola  could 
have  said  of  Florence,  as  Paul  said  of  Athens 
when  he  looked  upon  gods  innumerable :  "I 
perceive   that   in   all  things  you   are  too   relig- 


ious." 


But  all  this  was  outward  splendor.  It  was 
the  old  story  of  the  whited  sepulchre,  beauti- 
ful without,  but  degraded  within.  It  was  as  the 
gorgeous  plumes  on  the  hearse  that  bears  the 
dead  man  to  his  grave ;  it  was  as  some  mauso- 
leum, in  which  lay  dead  faith  and  religion. 

No  age,  perhaps,  other  than  that  which  is 
characterized  by  the  Apostle  Paul  in  his  letter 
to  the  Romans  was  more  corrupt  than  that  of 
the  time  of  Lorenzo.  The  most  corrupt  Popes 
that  had  ever  sat  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  dis- 
graced that  high  office.  The  church  was  abso- 
lutely rotten.  The  State  was  absolutely  cor- 
rupt. Licentiousness,  lying,  cheating,  gamb- 
ling, all  of  the  grosser  vices  and  all  of  the 
finer  vices  characterized  that  civilization.  It 
was  to  such  a  people  and  at  such  a  time  that 
Savonarola,  the  prophet  of  God,  came.  When 
he  first  entered  Florence,  after  having  preached 
for  a  while,  no  impression  was  made,  and  mod- 
estly he  writes:  "I  have  not  even  moved  a 
chicken.  I  have  no  voice,  no  lungs,  no  style." 
It  is  always  true,  my  friends,  that  the  truly 
great  man  does  not.  know  that  he  is  great.  He 
wears  his  greatness  as  unconsciously  as  the  rose 
bears  its  blushes,  as  unconsciously  as  the  sun 
gives  forth  his  benediction  upon  a  waiting  world. 

]5  Savonai  -ola 


He  does  not  dream  of  fame;  he  does  not  think 
of  leadership.  He  is  concerned  simply  with  the 
task  of  the  hour  and  the  importance  of  getting 
it  done,  getting  it  done  with  dispatch,  and  get- 
ting it  done  under  the  spirit  of  God  Himself. 

But  one  day  Savonarola  announced  a  sermon 
to.be  delivered  at  the  convent  of  St.  Mark.  It 
was  a  great  occasion.  It  was  a  memorable  occa- 
sion. A  great  multitude  assembled  in  the  great 
church  and  the  great  preacher  stood  before  them. 
The  man  and  the  hour  had  met.  The  oppor- 
tunity for  which  in  the  providence  of  God  he 
had  been  kept  back  now  flashed  in  all  its  brilli- 
ance before  him.  Behold  the  orator  as  he 
comes  before  his  audience.  I  give  to  you  a 
description  of  his  personal  appearance:  "He 
was  of  slight  stature,  about  five  feet  six  or 
seven  inches  high,  erect  in  carriage  and  easy 
in  bearing.  His  complexion  was  dark,  but  clear. 
His  forehead  was  massive,  of  the  retreating 
order.  His  eyes  were  his  wonderful  feature. 
They  were  dark  blue  under  thick,  heavy  eye- 
brows. They  were  luminous;  they  sparkled; 
they  shone;  they  emitted  sparks  of  fire;  they 
glowed  like  lamps  in  his  head  in  times  of 
his  impassioned  oratory.  They  were  like  the 
eyes  of  Frederick  the  Great— awful  in  their  in- 
tensity when  aroused  with  anger  or  excitement, 
and  most  pleasing  in  their  expression  when  rest- 
ing upon  you  with  favor  or  affection.  His  nose 
was  very  prominent,  and  hooked,  his  nether  lip 
protruding,  his  mouth  large— a  countenance  on 
the  whole  rather  repulsive  and  ugly;  but  the 
soul  behind  the  face  transfigured  the  gaunt  fea- 

Savonarola.  -ia 


tures,  and  they  became  beautiful  and  winning." 
He  stood  at  this  critical  moment  before  this 
critical  audience.  Here  was  a  man  who  did  not 
strive  in  his  speech  to  drop  "ruby  commas,  and 
emerald  semi-colons."  He  was  no  courtier.  It 
might  be  asked  concerning  him  as  Jesus  asked 
concerning  John  the  Baptist:  "What  went  you 
out  in  the  wilderness  to  see  ?  A  man  clothed  in 
soft  raiment?  Behold,  they  that  wear  soft 
clothing  are  in  kings'  houses.  But  what  went 
ye  out  for  to  see?  A  prophet?  Yea,  and  I  say 
to  you,  more  than  a  prophet." 

If  ever  a  man  was  earnest,  if  ever  a  man  felt 
the  awful  responsibilities  resting  upon  him  at  a 
given  crucial  moment,  it  was  Savonarola  as  he 
faced  the  self-indulgent  and  wicked  and  ele- 
gant Florentines.  He  spoke  of  the  crimes  of 
Lorenzo.  He  spoke  of  the  immoralities  of 
the  Pope.  He  denounced  the  sins  of  his  age. 
He  warned  the  people  that  unless  they  turned 
from  their  sins  the  wrath  of  God  would  come 
upon  them.  There  was  no  mincing.  There  was 
no  use  of  the  soft  pedal  in  his  speech.  There 
were  no  flute  tones.  It  was  the  trumpet  tone 
of  a  mighty  leader  summoning  upon  his  blast 
the  host  to  conflict  and  to  victory.  I  imagine 
that  those  eyes  of  his  flashed  with  unwonted 
splendor  and  that  the  great  orator's  eloquence 
swept  that  audience  as  the  wind  sweeps  through 
the  pines,  with  not  quite  so  much  melody-pro- 
ducing effect,  but  with  the  same  majesty  and 
glory. 

The  crusade  had  begun,  and  the  sound  of  the 
trumpets,     announcing    the    bailie    had    been 

1 7  Savo7iarola. 


heard.  The  city  of  Florence  was  aroused.  Lo- 
renzo had  heard  that  something  was  going  on, 
and  he  sends  a  committee  to  wait  upon  the 
preacher  and  to  say  to  the  preacher:  "Your 
preaching  is  good,  but  you  ought  not  to 
be  quite  so  severe  on  gambling."  Savon- 
arola replied  to  the  delegation :  "I  know 
who  sent  you.  Go  and  tell  your  master  to  re- 
pent, and  that  the  Lord  does  not  fear  the 
princes  of  the  earth."  So  he  went  steadily  for- 
ward in  his  mighty  work.  He  could  not  be  brib- 
ed. When  the  Pope  offered  him  promotion  he 
said:  "I  will  have  no  Cardinal's  cap:  I  will 
have  only  the  cap  made  red  with  my  own 
blood."  Here  was  a  man  who  was  in  earnest, 
a  man  to  be  reckoned  with.  Here  was  a  spirit 
touched  by  the  living  fire  from  off  the  altar,  in- 
spired by  the  breath  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty. 
You  cannot  pooh-pooh  a  man  of  that  sort  out 
of  your  path.  You  may  dismiss  your  gay 
Lotharios,  you  may  push  aside  the  little  man 
with  a  little  message  and  never  holding  to  that 
message  very  strongly,  but  when  a  flaming 
prophet  of  God  stands  in  your  path  with 
the  glory  of  heaven  shining  upon  his  brow 
and  with  a  message  of  imperative  command  in 
his  hands,  you  must  reckon  with  him.  Lorenzo 
did  well  to  communicate  with  Savonarola.  In 
a  sermon  delivered  shortly  afterward,  Savona- 
rola predicts  the  death  of  the  Pope,  the  death 
of  Lorenzo,  and  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  a  for- 
eign foe.  All  of  these  prophecies  came  true,  and 
the  result  was  that  the  influence  of  the  preacher 
was  strengthened. 

Savonarola.  IS 


As  the  work  proceeded  men  began  to  think 
and  to  study,  and  finally  they  came  to  Savona- 
rola with  a  request  that  he  should  map  out  for 
them  a  programme;  and  the  programme  was 
this:  "True  liberty,  that  which  alone  is  liber- 
ty, consists  in  a  determination  to  lead  a  good 
life.  What  sort  of  liberty  can  that  be  which 
subjects  us  to  the  tyranny  of  our  passions?  Do 
you  Florentines  wish  for  liberty?  Do  you  citi- 
zens wish  to  be  free  ?  Then,  above  all  things, 
love  God  and  your  neighbors."  The  new  govern- 
ment was  formed  on  these  lines,  and  Jesus 
Christ  was  proclaimed  king.  We  are  told  that 
the  law  and  public  documents  of  that  period 
read  almost  like  the  sermons  of  Savonarola. 

There  is,  my  friends,  no  other  programme. 
Men  may  come  with  suggestions  on  paper.  They 
have  their  day  and  cease  to  be.  They  can  come 
with  a  specific  and  it  will  be  considered  and  dis- 
missed. If  we  are  in  earnest  about  the  reforma- 
tion of  any  city  we  must  remember  that  it  is 
only  through  the  righteousness  of  the  individual 
citizen  that  such  reformation  can  be  achieved. 

I  need  not  speak  of  the  closing  days  of  this 
great  man,  for  I  wish  in  conclusion  to  draw  a 
few  very  practical  lessons  from  the  story  which 
has  been  so  briefly  recited. 

What  are  the  conditions  of  reforming  a  city 
in  the  light  of  the  history  which  has  been  given 
to  you  to-night?  In  the  first  place,  leadership 
that  shall  be  marked  by  moral  earnestness  and  a 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  linked  with  courage  and 
ability.  It  is  not  necessary  that  this  leadership 
should  be  vested,  as  in  the  case  of  Savonarola, 

19  Savonarola. 


in  a  priest  or  a  preacher.  At  this  particular 
juncture  of  affairs  in  our  own  city  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  leadership  ought  to  be  invested  in 
the  men  who  have  been  chosen  by  the  people  to 
guard  the  welfare  of  the  city.  A  brilliant  op- 
portunity is  offered,  for  instance,  to  the  Prose- 
cuting Attorney  of  our  Criminal  Court.  He 
must  be  a  man  of  courage.  He  must  be  a  man  of 
brains.  He  must  be  a  man  of  conscience.  He 
must  fear  neither  man  nor  the  devil.  He  must 
know  all  the  tortuosities  and  the  sinuosities 
of  the  law,  and  all  the  labyrinthine  windings 
that  the  most  expert  lawyer  can  create  or  manu- 
facture. He  must  be  able  to  measure  himself 
against  any  opponent  for  the  defense  who  shall 
stand  before  him.  Given  such  a  man,  dead  in 
earnest,  with  a  heart  all  aflame  with  zeal  for  the 
welfare  of  his  city,  and  you  shall  hear  of  a  re- 
formation in  this  city  that  will  meet  the  require- 
ments, I  think,  of  the  most  exacting  imagina- 
tion. 

All  of  the  officers  ought  to  be  men  of  high  re- 
pute, of  splendid  character,  of  unquestioned 
ability;  but,  given  this  one  man  who  under- 
stands his  business,  and  who  means  to  get  it 
done  or  die  in  the  effort,  and  just  as  sure  as 
Savonarola,  for  the  time  being  at  least,  swept 
the  Florentines  into  a  temporary  kingdom  of 
God,  just  so  sure  this  man  would  bring  to  pass 
results  that  would  be  most  gratifying  to  all  of 
us. 

The  leadership  need  not  be  invested  in  a 
preacher.  It  ought  to  be,  I  repeat,  in  the  hands 
of  these  men  who  have  been  delegated  and  sAvorn 

Savonarola.  20 


to  care  well  for  the  city  they  have  been  called 
upon  to  serve.  And  I  might  say  here  that  this 
leader  ought  to  love  his  city.  I  think  it  is  Tal- 
mage  who  makes  a  remark  to  this  effect,  that  the 
man  who  does  not  love  his  city  has  done  some- 
thing mean  there.  It  is  a  very  good  evidence, 
but  love  must  smite  as  well  as  smile.  Love  must 
thunder  as  well  as  whisper.  Love  must  say, 
"Woe  unto  you  Scribes,  Pharisees  and  hypo- 
crites, how  shall  you  escape  condemnation?" 
as  well  as  ' '  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labor,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest. ' '  The  love  of  God  is  strong, 
it  is  virile.  It  knows  when  to  strike.  It  knows 
when  to  lift  the  mailed  hand  and  when  to  lift 
up  the  hand  of  benediction. 

But  this  leader  of  whom  I  am  speaking 
ought  to  be  a  man  with  great  love  in  his  heart 
for  the  city  he  is  serving,  and  who  is  determined 
to  be  true  to  that  city  through  weal  and  through 
woe,  until  he  shall  be  retired  from  the  high  office 
to  which  he  has  been  called. 

Another  lesson  we  may  learn  from  this  story 
of  Savonarola,  namely,  the  claim  of  righteous- 
ness upon  the  city  is  something  absolutely  im- 
perative and  authoritative.  If  a  man  shall  pro- 
claim righteousness  simply  as  desirable  he  may 
as  well  retire  from  the  ministry.  If  he  shall 
proclaim  it  as  beautiful  and  ornamental  and  at- 
tractive and  fascinating  only,  he  might  as  well 
retire  from  the  ministry.  But  if  he  would 
bring  about  a  reformation  either  in  the  individ- 
ual or  in  the  city,  or  in  the  State,  or  in  the  na- 
tion, he  must,  like  Savonarola,  say  unto  all  men: 
"Everywhere    righteousness   is   the   divine   and 

21  Savonarola. 


imperative  claim  of  God  Almighty  upon  you, 
and  no  officer  in  the  City  Hall  is  more  exempt 
from  this  imperative  claim  than  the  preacher 
who  stands  in  the  pulpit  or  the  church  member 
who  sits  in  the  pew." 

It  was  this  message  which  the  Monk  of  St. 
Dominico  brought  to  his  people.  Still  another  les- 
son is  that  temporary  reformation  ought  to  be 
welcomed.  One,  in  reading  this  history,  would 
perhaps  hurriedly  come  to  the  conclusion  that, 
as  this  reformation  of  Savonarola  lasted  for  so 
short  a  while,  it  was  hardly  worth  while.  Says 
another :  ' '  When  the  life  of  Florence  was  eaten 
out  by  the  Medicis,  Savonarola  purified  the  city 
for  a  time  with  a  thunderstorm.  The  Floren- 
tines cast  out  their  Herods  at  the  bidding  of 
their  Baptist;  they  burned  their  vanities  in  the 
market  place;  they  elected  Jesus  King  of  Flor- 
ence by  acclamation.  In  a  little  while  they 
brought  Herod  back  and  burned  the  Baptist  in 
the  same  market  place. ' ' 

Was  it  failure? 

You  do  not  minimize  the  sweetness  of  the  rose 
because  it  lasts  only  for  a  few  brief  hours.  It 
has  no  such  permanence  as  the  rock-ribbed  hills, 
but  the  brief  fragrance  that  it  gives  forth  is  just 
as  valuable  as  the  hills  which  appeal  to  us 
through  the  ages  and  the  centuries.  The  re- 
formation may  be  brief,  but  it  is  good  while  it 
lasts,  and  besides,  it  brings  before  us  a  vision 
that  we  shall  never  forget.  When  a  man  goes 
to  some  mountain  height  and  looks  out  upon  a 
splendid  landscape  stretching  about  and  around 
him,  it  is  true  that  he  may  come  down  again  to 

Savonarola.  22 


the  commonplace  duties  of  life,  to  the  vulgari- 
ties of  life,  but  he  shall  never  forget  the  vision, 
whether  in  the  shop  or  on  the  street,  or  in  the 
market  place. 

Savonarola  brought  a  vision  to  the  world 
that  it  was  possible,  say  for  twenty-four  hours, 
say  for  a  week,  say  for  a  month,  to  live  with 
Jesus  Christ  nominally  acknowledged,  at  least, 
as  King.  Here  is  a  possible  city  of  God.  We 
have  seen  the  vision.  It  is  an  absolute  fact  of 
history.  We  cannot  forget  it,  and  so  long  as 
that  vision  abides,  and  it  abides  at  this  hour 
with  us,  we  shall  be  stimulated  to  greater  efforts 
in  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  life  and  work  of 
Savonarola  are  to  be  marked  with  failure.  John 
the  Baptist  was  beheaded,  and  his  work  lasted 
only  a  very  brief  period  of  time,  but  he  did  not 
fail.  He  was  the  harbinger  of  the  King,  and 
made  straight  the  paths  for  His  royal  feet. 
When  we  look  over  history,  we  shall  find  that 
the  path  of  progress  has  been  marked  by  the 
blackened  stakes  that  tell  of  martyrs  for  truth 
and  for  righteousness.  Jesus  Christ  did  not  fail, 
although  men  attacked  Him,  and  with  wicked 
hands  nailed  Him  to  the  cross,  and  even  His 
own  disciples  turned  away,  saying:  "Let's 
take  up  the  old  business,  for  the  Master  has  left 
us."  Out  of  His  death,  out  of  His  agony  has 
come  to  us  redemption,  and  possihly  enthrone- 
ment in  this  life  and  in  the  life  that  is  to  come. 
There  is  no  such  thing  ;is  failure  in  the  realm  of 
mora]  reform.  Each  wavelet  on  the  ocean  tossed 
adds  to  the  ebbtide  and  the  flow,  and  so  Savona- 

^>;{  Savonai  via 


rola  died  or  rather  was  burned,  but  while  the 
body  perished,  the  spirit  survived,  and  the  spirit 
of  Savonarola  is  in  every  movement  of  reform, 
in  every  splendid  cause  that  is  waged  in  behalf 
of  righteousness,  in  every  noble  effort  that  is 
put  forth  to  make  the  world  better  and  brighter 
through  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Savonarola  has  come  again,  and  he  will  come 
again.  King  Arthur,  though  deadly  wounded, 
still  lies  at  rest  in  his  misty  island  and  will  yet 
appear  for  the  deliverance  of  his  people.  So 
lies  the  great  Karl  in  his  hollowed  sepulchre ;  so 
the  Emperor  Barbarossa,  of  the  Germans,  in  his 
mountain  cavern,  and  Olaf  in  the  north.  So 
the  ancient  Hebrews  were  told  that  their  pro- 
phet, Elijah,  would  come  back  at  the  approach 
of  the  great  day  that  should  need  him  most. 

It  is  often  the  dream  of  an  age  that  its  great 
men  shall  reappear  in  the  coming  time  to  take 
up  the  great  work  left  by  him  unfinished;  and 
when  Savonarola,  shall  come  again  it  will  not 
be  in  his  splendid  personality,  but  he  will  be  re- 
incarnated in  the  quickened  conscience,  in  the 
awakened  hearts  of  the  men  and  women  of  this 
splendid  century  in  which  we  are  living. 

This,  my  friends,  is  the  message  which  I  wish 
to  bring  to  you  to-night.  I  do  not  look  for  any 
ideal  city,  a  city  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  but  I 
do  look  for  a  city  that  shall  not  be  ashamed  of 
God.  I  do  look  for  a  city  that  shall  have  a 
manhood  that  is  unpurchasable  and  that  is  dig- 
nified and  chastened  by  the  mighty  force  of 
righteousness.  I  do  look  for  a  city  that  cares 
for  law  and  order,  and  for  truth  and  for  jus- 

Savonarola.  9-1 


tice.  I  do  look  for  a  city  that  shall  enable  us, 
as  we  look  upon  her  streets,  and  her  residences, 
and  her  splendid  places  of  business,  and  her 
public  institutions,  to  say:  "Thou  art  not  as 
fair  as  the  city  of  God,  but  there  is  naught  more 
fair  on  this  earth  than  is  the  smile  upon  thy 
face." 


i  is  X 


i      « 


nJ 


og  Savonarola. 


The  Need  of  Prophet  Leaders. 


The  following  address  was  delivered  at  a  time  when  the 
State  was  passing  through  one  of  the  most  exciting  and 
bitter   political    campaigns    in    its    history : 

I  think  it  will  not  be  questioned  by  thinking 
men  that  this  is  a  time  of  political  peril.  The 
dangers  which  confront  us  are  not  of  a  commer- 
cial character.  The  country  was  never  more 
prosperous.  Let  us  remember,  however,  that 
when  the  Roman  Empire  Mas  overthrown,  the 
people  of  Rome  could  say,  "never  was  the  conn- 
try  more  prosperous."  From  $200,000  to  $400,- 
000  were  sometimes  spent  on  a  single  banquet. 
It  is  said  of  one  man  that  he  spent  $4,000,000  in 
luxurious  eating  and  drinking,  and  then  com- 
mitted suicide  because  he  had  only  $400,000  be- 
tween himself  and  starvation.  We  have  enor- 
mous wealth.  Colossal  fortunes  are  a  character- 
istic of  the  century.  National  bankruptcy  most 
certainly  does  not  stare  us  in  the  face.  The 
perils  which  threaten  us  spring  from  our  moral 
condition,  and  being  of  unsound  health  morally, 
we  are  as  a  sick  man  in  an  elegantly  appointed 
and  luxuriously  furnished  house — an  environ- 
ment of  splendor,  but  no  health  to  enjoy  it- 
To-night  I  would  speak  of  the  need  of  pro- 
phets in  this  time  of  political  peril.  It  is  not 
my  purpose  in  this  address  to  consider  the  dis- 
tinctive peculiarities  of  1  lie  Bible  prophet,  or  to 
point  out  those  particulars  in  which  he  stands 
forth  unique  and  alone  In  so  far  as  lie  is  a 
■'man   apart'     having  special   endowments  and 

27  "Seed   of   Prophet    Leaders. 


powers,  he  cannot  be  imitated  or  reproduced. 
He  constitutes  an  order  of  his  own  and  it  is  not 
permitted  us  to  share  his  fellowship.  But  as 
"lesser  mortals  who  do  but  haunt  the  slope"  we 
can  find  much  in  the  character  and  work  of  the 
prophet  capable  of  being  copied  into  our  own 
lives  and  fitting  us  for  high  and  holy  service  in 
the  world.  The  realm  of  prophecy  in  this  larger 
sense  is  limited  only  by  fitness  to  enter  and  not 
by  any  arbitrary  fixing  of  its  metes  and 
bounds.  It  is  not  confined  to  any  age  or  people. 
' '  God  sends  his  teachers  unto  every  age,  to  every 
clime  and  every  race  of  men."  We  may  not 
invade  the  solitariness  of  these  mighty  souls, 
whose  mighty  message  has  been  preserved  for  us 
in  the  pages  that  never  grow  dim,  but  we  may 
at  least  give  forth  the  divine  light  that  is  in  us 
—only  a  thread  of  light,  it  may  be,  but  illumi- 
native according  to  its  intensity  and  persis- 
tence. We  may  be  successors  to  the  prophets  in 
certain  essential  elements  of  life  and  character, 
even  though  it  be  true  that  "only  Ulysses  can 
wield  the  bow  of  Ulysses." 

There  is  supreme  need  for  men  with  the 
spirit  and  power  of  these  prophets  of  an  elder 
time,  who  shall  become  the  leaders  of  the  people. 
Leadership  of  a  certain  sort  we  have,  but  a  fine 
moral  leadership  is  the  exception,  rather  than 
the  rule.  "Leadership  is  the  grand,  permanent 
necessity  of  humanity."  There  must  be  those 
who  shall  lift  for  us  the  standard,  if  the  hosts 
shall  rally.  In  the  army  of  righteousness  we 
must  have  our  captains  of  tens  and  of  thou- 
sands.    The  people  slumber,  because  they  hear 

Need   of  Prophet  Leaders.  28 


uo  clear,  ringing  bugle-blast  summoning  them 
to  duty.  The  best  cause  must  have  an  advocate. 
Truth  does  not  win  its  way  without  champions. 
And  when  the  leader  comes,  he  is  instantly 
recognized.  Men  may  refuse  to  follow  him,  but 
his  primacy  will  not  be  questioned.  He  may 
be  hated,  but  the  very  hatred  will  be  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  power.  We  are  not  apt 
to  mistake  the  rumbling  of  cart-wheels  for  thun- 
der, or  the  jangling  of  bells  out  of  tune  for  true 
music.  Every  true  leader  of  men  has  his  cre- 
dentials in  himself.  He  does  not  need  to  wear  a 
crown,  or  hold  a  sceptre— his  authority  is  in  his 
message.  He  does  not  need  that  holy  oil  shall 
be  poured  upon  his  head;  his  anointing  is  that 
of  the  heart  and  spirit.  His  character  is  his 
certificate  of  royalty.  Such  men  have  ever  been 
the  prophets  of  their  time — "souls,"  as  Carlyle 
hath  it,  "actually  sent  down  from  the  skies  with 
a  God's  message  to  us."  The  forces  of  right- 
eousness to-day  are  only  waiting  such  leadership. 
The  music  which  the  world  wants  to  hear,  and 
which  one  day  it  shall  hear,  is  slumbering  in 
men  and  women  all  about  us.  The  master-hands 
who  can  sweep  the  harp,  are  needed,  and  the 
great  melody  will  come  forth  sublime  and 
majestic  as  the  music  of  the  spheres.  In  consid- 
ering the  qualifications  of  the  prophet,  and, 
therefore,  of  all  prophets  whom  our  time  de- 
mands— in  a  word,  the  conditions  of  that  moral 
leadership  which  must  conduct  us  out  of  our 
political  bondage,  I  shall  mention  inspiration  as 
chief  and  all-inclusive.  This  is  a  wonderfully 
comprehensive  word.     T  will  ask  you  to  think  of 

•"I  Need  of  Prophet  Leaders. 


inspiration— not  as  a  theological  term,  but  as 
that  quality  which  must  inhei*e  in  every  life 
at  all  conspicuous  for  service.  He  who  has  it  is 
called  of  God  to  the  task  which  claims  him. 

I  use  it  as  opposed,  in  the  beginning,  to  a 
shallow  indifferentism.  Gallio,  who  cared  for 
none  of  these  things,  was  not  an  inspired  man. 
One  who  can  look  unmoved  on  the  political  de- 
gradation of  his  State  and  country,  and  Avho 
only  shrugs  his  shoulders  and  says,  "It  is  none 
of  my  business,"  is  not  an  inspired  man;  and 
one  who  lazily  draws  about  him  the  robes  of  his 
silken  selfishness,  while  he  drawls,  "Nothing  is 
worth  while;  what's  the  use  for  a  fellow  to  trou- 
ble himself?"  is  not  an  inspired  man.  Inspira- 
tion cares,  and  cares  intensely;  the  inspired  man 
feels  the  degradation  of  his  country  as  a  person- 
al affliction.  The  men  who  dishonor  her  institu- 
tions are  his  enemies,  and  insults  flung  in  the 
face  of  political  liberty  are  felt  by  him  as  a  per- 
sonal affront.  Our  prophets  must  be  men  who 
feel  the  woes  they  would  remedy,  to  whom  pub- 
lic shame  becomes  a  personal  experience.  It  is 
not  enough  that,  one  should  tell  us  in  elegant 
English  the  evils  which  are  undermining  our 
political  life.  He  must  feel  the  humiliation  be- 
fore he  can  strike  with  a  right  arm  clothed  with 
power.  Indifference  to  the  public  weal  on  the 
part  of  the  average  political  leader  is  one  of  the 
most  distressing  features  in  our  political  situa- 
tion. These  men  do  not  seem  capable  of  feeling 
righteous  indignation  in  the  presence  of  the 
moral  infamy  with  which  they  are  confronted— 
and   hence  their   words   do   not   come   forth   as 

Need    of   Prophet   Leaders.  30 


thunderbolts,  but  as  spent-balls.  Beware  of  the 
man  whose  heart  has  been  pierced  by  the  woes  of 
his  people.  The  sting  is  the  needed  spur  to 
effort. 

The  sleepjngjion  is  not  dreaded,  but  let  him 
be  woundectand  his  roar  shall  ring  as  the  trum- 
pet, of  doom  in  the  ears  of  his  enemies.  We  must 
seek  our  leaders  among  those  whose  souls  are  sen- 
sitive enough  to  hear  the  "still,  sad  music  of  hu- 
manity/' and  who  can  weep  over  a  land  despoiT 
rrThy  piin  "Reformf"-°  bayp  Qver  been  men  of  pro- 
fru-mrl  fpolino-— mpn  of  the  type  of  those  Hebrew 
prophets  whose  souls  were  stirred  as  the  heaving 
tumultuous  ocean.. 

Another   element   of   inspiration   is  vision— 
the   recognition   of   the   ideal.      There   must  be, 
first,  the  vision  of  the  actual— the  clear  recogni- 
tion of  existing  evils.     The  idealist  is   a  mere 
"'dreamer  of  dreams"— a  spinner  of  impractic- 
able theories,  if  he  be  not  in  touch  with  actual 
conditions.     He  is  but  a  citizen  of  cloud-land, 
who  has  no  more  influence  over  the  life  of  to-day 
than  an  inhabitant  of  Mars.     But  acquaintance 
with  the  actual  is  not  enough.    Our  leaders  must 
see  "the  something  better,"  and  inspire  within 
the  hearts  of  their  followers  the  desire  to  obtain 
it.     The  man  who  is  working  in  the  slums  must 
ever  keep  his  eye  fixed  on  the  star.     There  can 
be  no  change  for  the  better  until  the  "better"  is 
made  to  shine  with  the  brightness  of  a  beckoning 
angel.      And   here   is  the  opportunity  and   duly 
of    the    newspaper.       "What    a    pulpit/'    says 
Lowell,    "the    editor   mounts   daily,    sometimes 
with    a    congregation   of   fifty   thousand    within 

.{j  Need  of  Prophet    Leaders. 


reach  of  his  voice,  and  never  as  much  as  a  nod- 
der  even  among  them.  And  from  what  a  Bible 
can  he  choose  his  text— a  Bible  which  needs  no 
translation,  and  which  no  priestcraft  can  shut 
and  clasp  from  the  laity— the  open  volume  of 
the  world,  upon  which,  with  a  pen  of  sunshine 
or  destroying  fire,  the  inspired  present  is  even 
now  writing  the  annals  of  God. ' '  But  has  he  no 
mission  other  than  to  tell  us  "how  goes  the  day 
of  human  power?"  Is  he  to  narrow  his  oppor- 
tunity, for  the  sake  of  gain,  to  the  advocacy  of 
partisan-  political  measures,  while  there  comes 
not  to  him  the  "vision  splendid"  of  a  redeemed 
humanity?  Is  he  simply  an  annalist  who  shall 
bring  before  us  dry-as-dust  facts,  but  who  can 
create  no  perspective  along  which  we  may  tread 
to  better  customs,  better  men  and  better  times? 
The  inspired  prophet-editor  is  the  man  who  re- 
ports the  battle,  but  who  sees  in  the  distance 
the  coming  of  the  "Imperial  Guard"  of  right- 
eousness, and  who  never  leaves  us  in  doubt  as  to 
the  final  triumph  of  the  right.  "Let  us  get  the 
the  best  we  can  and  let  the  rest  go,"  is  the 
spirit  of  the  opportunist.  The  true  prophet 
says:  "There  is  something  better.  In  God's 
name,  let  us  go  up  and  possess  the  land."  We 
do  not  ask  that  our  editors  shall  be  saints— "a 
crown  upon  their  foreheads  and  a  harp  within 
their  hands,"  but  we  do  ask  that  once  in  awhile 
they  shall  come  out  of  the  valley  of  political 
wrangling  and  corruption,  and,  standing  on  the 
mountain  height  of  hope,  shall  point  us  to 
"fairer  worlds,  and  lead  the  way."  There  is 
that  in  every  man  which  responds  to  the  ideal. 

Xccd   of  Prophet  Leaders.  32 


and   the   editor,   therefore,   may  be   sure   of  his 
constituency. 

And  squarely  should  our  leaders  in  Con- 
gress answer  this  demand  of  the  human  soul. 
In  criticising  the  statement.  ''It  is  the  business 
of  the  Senate  not  to  set  before  the  country  no- 
ble ideals,  but  to  put  into  working  operation 
such  ideals  as  are  at  the  time  practicable  of  ac- 
complishment.'' a  writer  says:  "As  I  appre- 
hend it,  a  legislator  has  a  good  deal  larger  re- 
sponsibility than  merely  to  keep  at  the  mean 
average  of  the  people  and  formulate  what  hap- 
pens to  be  the  people's  notion  at  the  moment. 
Thirty  years  ago  Ave  used  to  have  Senatorial 
utterances  that  would  ring  clear  across  the  con- 
tinent, and  be  a  moral  stimulus  to  the  entire 
nation.  The  secret  of  the  power  of  these  utter- 
ances was  that  they  proclaimed  the  ideal,  and 
by  the  magnificent  enunciation,  the  whole  life 
of  the  people  was  lifted.  Passages  of  just  that 
sort  of  idealism  were  printed  in  the  reading- 
books  that  we  used  at  school,  and  we  learned 
1  hem,  and  in  the  days  when  the  boys'spoke  pieces' 
we  declaimed  them,  and  the  thrill  of  them  is  in 
the  hearts  of  some  of  us  still."  Let  us  not  sup- 
pose that  it  is  the  business  of  the  preacher  only 
to  proclaim  the  ideal.  This,  unquestionably,  is 
the  function  of  the  pulpit,  but  is  none  the  less 
the  business  of  every  man  who  aspires  to  leader- 
ship. Otherwise  he  is  one  of  the  crowd— one 
wliu  does  not  escape  the  average,  and  who  can, 
therefore,  bring  no  inspiration  to  his  fellows. 
'The  seer  is  he  who  discovers  and  asks  us  to 
consider  what  is  fixed  ;ind  abiding  on  the  rest- 

88  v. ,  a   of  Prophet  Leaders. 


less  ocean  of  life,  the  landmarks  of  the  way, 
what  features  do  not  shift,  and  stars  do  not  set 
.  .  .  For  as  the  Pyrenees  and  Himalaya  peaks, 
Capes  Horn  and  Good  Hope  stay  on  map  and 
globe  for  successive  students  and  visitors,  so 
these  supernal  things  shift  not.  They  are  fea- 
tures of  the  universe ;  we  go  to  them  with  less 
doubt  than  to  Niagara  or  the  White  Hills;  for 
no  flood  wears  away  their  basis,  and  no  storms 
crumble  their  structure  into  interval — dust." 
Still  another  element  of  inspiration  is  moral 
enthusiasm.  The  enthusiast  in  art  is  the  man 
who  is  possessed  and  dominated  by  the  love  of 
his  art.  Speak  to  him  of  painting  or  sculpture, 
or  music,  his  eye  kindles,  and  with  the  eagerness 
of  a  boy,  he  throws  himself  into  the  discussion. 
The  moral  enthusiast  is  the  man  who  is  domi- 
nated by  a  passion  for  righteousness.  The  topo- 
graphy of  his  soul  shows  plainly  drawn  the 
lines  of  right  and  wrong.  Principles  of  truth 
rule  him  with  the  authority  of  God.  You  feel 
at  once  that  such  a  man  must  speak  his  mes- 
sage. It  is  a  matter  of  moral  compulsion.  The 
eternal  righteousness  bids  him  speak.  With 
Luther,  he  says  ,  ' '  Here  I  stand ;  I  can  do  no 
other.  God  help  me!"  As  says  another,  "He 
is  not  appointed  like  an  army  officer,  nominated 
like  a  chief  justice,  or  confirmed  in  any  Senate. 
If  he  be  ambassador,  it  is  with  an  inward  de- 
spatch." Sin  is  hateful,  and  he  seeks  to  crush 
it  as  he  would  a  viper,  and  as  instinctively  and 
spontaneously  his  denunciation  comes  forth. 
Truth  is  his  pole-star,  and  he  will  tell  his  best 
friend,   "I  can  do  anything  but  lie  for  you." 

Need   of  Prophet  Leaders.  34 


Try  to  bribe  him,  and  you  will  think  that  the 
central  fires  of  the  earth  have  been  concentrat- 
ed into  his  blistering  rebuke.  Suggest  a  com- 
promise involving  dishonor,  and  if  you  escape 
without  a  blow  you  will  be  fortunate.  Tell  him 
that  the  spirit  of  the  times  demands  that  he 
must  corrupt  voters  in  order  to  secure  his  office, 
and  he  will  say  to  you— not  in  the  language  of 
cant,  but  of  sincere  conviction,  "I  would  rather 
be  right  than  president."  Say  to  him,  ^Every- 
body does  it,  and  you  will  but  make  yourself  an 
eccentric  by  refusing,"  and  he  will  say  to  you, 
'"I  will  not  go  with  the  crowd  to  moral  destruc- 
tion." Moral  enthusiasm  has  been  the  charac- 
teristic of  all  epoch-making  men.  Genius  has 
never  inaugurated  or  carried  to  successful  con- 
summation any  cause  that  has  not  been  upheld 
and  sustained  by  moral  sentiment.  It  is  the 
condition  of  the  highest  courage.  The  histo- 
rians do  not  tell  us  of  men  who  have  been  will- 
ing to  die  for  a  fad  or  a  fancy,  but  they  tell  us 
of  thousands  who  have  died  for  what  they  be- 
lieved to  be  right.  Men  do  not  spill  their  blood 
when  the  question  involved  is  one  of  office,  but 
give  them  something  worth  dying  for— some- 
thing that  appeals  to  their  moral  enthusiasm— 
and  the  blood  will  be  willingly  surrendered. 
Evermore  the  supreme  choice  has  been  between 
the  right  and  the  wrong,  and  this  has  tested 
every  leader,  and  every  nation. 


35  Need   of  Prophet  Leaden 


Once   to   every    man    and    nation 

Comes  the   moment  to   decide 
In    the    strife    of    truth    with    falsehood 

For  the  good  or  evil  side  ; 
Some  great  cause,   God's  new  Messiah, 

Offering    each    the    bloom    or   blight 
Parts   the   goats    upon   the    left   hand, 

And  the  sheep  upon  the  right. 
And   the   choice    goes   by   forever, 

Twixt    that    darkness    and    that    light. 

We  need  and  must  have  in  our  leaders  the 
elemental  virtues.  The  art  of  the  orator  is  ad- 
mirable, the  skill  to  put  things  effectively  and 
beautifully  is  not  to  be  despised,  the  social  gift 
which  can  win  friends  is  capable  of  splendid 
use,  but  the  serious  task  of  making  the  world 
better  requires  not  only  these  ornamental  vir- 
tues, but  the  elemental  virtues  of  loyalty,  truth, 
justice  and  purity— in  a  word,  high,  moral  en- 
thusiasm. 

I  have  indicated  some  of  the  qualities  which 
must  characterize  the  men  who  shall  lead  us 
forth  to  better  things.  Their  inspiration  must 
have  these  elements,  or  they  shall  be  but  as 
"reeds  shaken  by  the  wind,"  or  as  "dwellers  in 
king's  houses"  wearing  the  soft  raiment  of  ef- 
feminacy. I  have  not  been  speaking  of  imprac- 
ticable virtues.  Human  life  all  through  the 
ages  has  illustrated  them,  and  in  so  far  as  they 
have  found  exemplification,  the  world  has 
grown  better.  Thank  God  that  the  pages  of  our 
political  history  shine  with  the  names  of  many 
such  men,  nor  is  the  political  stage  of  to-day 
vacant  of  their  presence.  But  if  we  shall  have 
more  of  them— and  God  give  us  a  host— the 
moral  life  of    the    nation    must    be  quickened. 

Need    of  Prophet   Leaders.  3ft 


With  very  great  force,  it  has  been  asked :  "How, 
then,  can  we  be  prophets?  we  the  worldly;  we. 
the  sensual ;  we,  the  idle  and  sluggish ;  we,  the 
vulgar  and  conventional ;  we,  who  worship 
mammon  and  love  pleasure,  and  delight  so  much 
in  scandal  and  hatred  and  lies?  As  we  are,  we 
can  not  be  prophets;  but  are  the  wings  of  the 
six-winged  seraphim — the  twain  with  which  they 
did  fly,  folded  forever?  Is  there  no  temple 
more?  Is  heaven  closed  forever?  Burns  there 
no  fire  on  the  altar?  Has  the  chariot  of  heaven 
ceased  to  descend  to  earth  ?  Are  there  no  hot 
coals  of  fire  to  touch  and  purify  the  unclean 
lips?  Does  the  Lord  say  no  longer  from  His 
throne  above  the  cherubim,  'Whom  shall  I 
send,  and  who  will  go  for  us  ? " '  It  is  our  fault 
that  the  necessary  moral  leadership  is  wanting. 
God  has  not  exhausted  Himself  by  giving  a  few 
great  men  in  the  days  a  gone.  He  shall  give  us 
others  when  ourselves  are  ready  for  them — 
"men  who  can  stand  before  a  demagogue  and 
scorn  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  wink- 
ing; tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the 
fog  in  public  duty,  and  in  private  thinking." 

I  might  add,  in  concluding  this  address  that 
the  prophet-leader  has  always  been  a  messenger 
of  hope.  "Abraham  had  his  vision  of  a  poster- 
ity numerous  as  the  stars  in  the  Syrian  sky,  un- 
der which  he  pitched  his  tent,  and  he  died  with 
only  one  son  the  heir  of  his  vast  promise."  Bu1 
the  vision  has  none  the  less  come  true.  "Moses 
had  his  vision  of  a  multitude  of  slaves  wrought 
over  into  a  mighty  nation,  conformed  in  the 
whole  reach  of  personal,  domestic  and  civic  life 

87  Need  of  Prophet  Leaders. 


451759 


to  the  conscience  of  Jehovah,  and  he  went  up 
into  Pisgah  to  die,  leaving  his  people  in  the  plain 
below,  little  better  still  than  a  crowd  of  slaves." 
But  in  the  on-going  of  time  the  great  nation 
was  born.  "The  apostle  beheld  a  new  heaven 
and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness, 
and  after  the  labor  and  sorrow  of  nearly  two 
thousand  years,  men  wait  for  the  realization  of 
the  dream."  But  the  true  prophet-leader  still 
hopes.  The  dominant  note  should  be  that  of 
hope.  A  writer  has  said :  '  '.Presently  depres- 
sion will  go  out  of  fashion.  It  is  the  mood  only 
of  the  diseased  or  imitative ;  it  is  never  the  mood 
of  the  healthful  and  the  original;  and  when  it 
goes  out  of  fashion,  people  will  look  back  and 
smile  at  the  importance  which  has  been  attach- 
ed to  certain  manifestations  of  the  pessimistic 
temper  in  our  time."  We  will  enter  into  the 
vision  and  feel  the  mighty  spell  of  its  beauty, 
but  we  will  share  as  well  that  patience  which 
can  "wait  on  the  Lord  and  be  of  good  courage." 
With  Tennyson  we  will  bathe  our  souls  in  the 
glory  of  the  golden  year,  and  when  we  are  told 
that  it  shall  not  come  in  our  time,  with  him  we 
shall  say : 

But  well  I  know  that  to  him  who  works  and  knows  he  works, 
That   same    glad   year    is   ever    at   the    door. 


Ni  ■  d    of   Prophet   Leaders.  38 


Sleeping  Citizenship 


•'Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion." 
Am.  6:1. 


Little  is  known  of  Amos,  other  than  the 
facts  that  he  was  a  prophet  of  the  Southern 
Kingdom,  that  he  earned  his  livelihood  as  a 
herdsman  and  fruit-gatherer  and  that  he  pro- 
phesied several  hundred  years  before  Christ. 
With  the  man  we  are  not  particularly  concern- 
ed, but  we  neglect  his  message  at  our  peril. 
Amos,  no  less  than  all  the  Hebrew  prophets, 
gives  us  in  himself  an  example  of  the  preacher 
in  politics— not  having  to  do  with  politics,  but 
with  principles.  Dr.  Hodges  says:  "The  Jew- 
ish Church  was  the  Jewish  nation.  The  prophets 
were  patriot-orators,  who  preached  politics 
with  vehemence,  and  entered  might  and  main 
into  public  life.  It  is  impossible  to  think  of 
Isaiah  as  a  quiet  parish  priest,  living  at  the  cen- 
ter of  a  narrow  circle,  letting  the  great  world 
outside  go  uninterrupted  on  its  own  mistaken 
way.  In  New  York,  in  Boston,  Isaiah  would 
have  been  the  heart  and  soul  of  a  great,  out- 
spoken, radical,  independent,  righteous  news- 
paper. Amos  and  Hosea  were  interested  in  pub- 
lic questions  profoundly  and  supremely.  The 
saints  of  that  time  were  the  natural  heroes." 

Our  prophet  speaks  to  his  countrymen  be- 
cause he  can  no  longer  keep  silence.  "The  lion 
hath  roared,  who  can  but  hear?    The  Lord  God 

;}i|  8h  eping   Citizenship. 


hath  spoken,  who  can  but  prophesy?"  In  his 
case,  silence  would  have  been  shame.  When 
social  and  political  corruption  confront  any 
true  prophet,  he  must  speak  or,  with  shame, 
resign  his  commission.  Nor  does  Amos  consid- 
er the  consequences.  Excuses  for  "sticking  to 
his  farm"  he  might  have  offered.  No  king  had 
summoned  him,  no  audience  had  solicited  his 
message,  nobody  had  urged  him  to  undertake 
this  responsible  and  ungrateful  task.  But  there 
had  sounded  a  voice  within,  and  duty  must  sub- 
ordinate expediency.  And  so  he  comes  forth 
from  his  retirement  and  suddenly  appears  be- 
fore the  people  as  a  messenger  of  judgment. 
His  trumpet  blast  startled  the  nation,  even  as 
the  fiery  eloquence  of  Savonarola  in  the  Duomo 
of  Florence.  He  came  with  the  old  gospel  ap- 
plied to  existing  political  conditions.  The  na- 
tion was  asleep  morally,  and  he  thunders  in 
their  ears,  "Woe  unto  those  that  are  at  ease  in 
Zion."  That  moral  apathy  which  precedes 
moral  death  had  seized  upon  the  people  whom 
he  loved. 

1.  Amos  was  confronted  in  the  very  out- 
set with  the  indifference  of  officialism.  "Also 
Amaziah  (the  priest)  said  unto  Amos.  0  thou 
seer,  go,  flee  thee  away  unto  the  land  of  Judah, 
and  there  eat  bread  and  prophesy  there;  but 
prophesy  not  again  any  more  at  Bethel:  for  it 
is  the  king's  sanctuary,  and  it  is  a  royal  house." 
You  feel  the  contempt  of  the  little  great  man, 
clothed  with  his  official  authority.  How  can  the 
messenger  of  righteousness  reach  the  conscience 
of  self-satisfied  officialism?    The  storming  of  the 

Sleeping   Citizenship.  40 


Bastile  was  an  easier  task.  Fed  at  the  public 
crib,  comfortable  in  their  wickedness,  these  high 
dignitaries  only  asked  to  be  let  alone.  "0,  thou 
seer,  go  back  to  your  quiet  village  of  Tekoa  and 
tend  your  sheep.  Keep  out  of  politics.  We  can 
run  the  government."  And  yet.  if  our  public 
officials  are  indifferent  to  the  claims  of  right- 
eousness, the  entire  nation  must  suffer.  An  easy 
and  polite  dismissal  of  the  prophet  is  only  to 
postpone  the  day  of  doom. 

2.  Again,  Amos  was  confronted  with  the 
indifference  of  liberalism.  As  says  another, 
"It  was  an  age  of  liberalism.  It  was  permitted 
to  men  to  worship  what  god  they  pleased,  in 
what  manner  they  pleased ;  not  because  men 
had  the  catholic  conception  that  every  faith  has 
some  truth  in  it,  and  in  the  free  battle  of  creed, 
the  errors  will  vanish,  and  the  truth  be  preserved, 
but  because  they  did  not  care  whether  men  be- 
lieved truth  or  falsehood,  whether  they  worship- 
ed God  or  Baal. ' '  This  is  the  condition  which  pre- 
cedes utter  moral  ruin.  It  is  the  easy  indifferent- 
ism  which  refuses  to  draw  moral  distinctions. 
Righteousness  is  tame  and  insipid.  It  is  not 
worth  while.  What  matter,  so  long  as  business 
prospers  and  there  is  plenty  of  money  in  the 
country  ?  In  avoiding  Puritanism,  with  its 
hard  and  fast  requirements,  we  are  in  danger  of 
swinging  off  to  moral  license,  when  nothing  is 
worth  while  that  does  not  affect  our  financial 
interests  or  our  political  organizations.  "I 
know,"  says  the  prophet,  "how  manifold  are 
your  transgressions,  and  how  mighty  are  your 
sins:  ye  that  afflict  the  just,  that   take  a  bribe 

41  Sleeping   Citizenship. 


and  that  turn  aside  the  needy  in  the  gate  from 
their  right.  Seek  good  and  not  evil,  that  ye 
may  live."  We  are  building  upon  the  sand  if 
we  are  building  a  political  fabric  whose  founda- 
tion is  not  laid  in  the  eternal  laws  of  God. 
"Seek  him  that  maketh  the  Pleiades  and  Orion, 
and  turneth  the  shadow  of  death  into  the  morn- 
ing, and  maketh  the  day  dark  with  night;  that 
calleth  for  the  waters  of  the  sea  and  poureth 
them  out  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  Lord 
is  his  name." 

3.  The  indifference  of  wealth  was  another 
phase  of  this  moral  apathy  against  which  the 
prophet  thundered.  "Ye  that  put  far  away  the 
evil  day,  and  cause  the  seat  of  violence  to  come 
near;  that  lie  upon  beds  of  ivory  and  stretch 
themselves  upon  their  couches,  and  eat  the 
lambs  out  of  the  flock  and  the  calves  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  stall;  that  sing  idle  songs  to  the 
sound  of  the  viol ;  that  devise  for  themselves  in- 
struments of  music  like  David;  that  drink  wine 
in  bowls,  and  anoint  themselves  with  the  chief 
ointments— but  they  are  not  grieved  for  the 
affliction  of  Joseph."  What  a  picture  of  self- 
indulgence  in  the  midst  of  moral  obliquity! 
Don't  trouble  us  with  your  reforms  and  gospels. 
Give  us  music  and  dancing,  and  talk  to  us  of 
pleasant  things.  It  is  almost  as  bad  as  Nero 
fiddling  while  Rome  was  burning.  Our  luxury 
is  undermining  moral  earnestness ;  our  prosperity 
is  our  danger.  It  is  the  spirit  which  says : 
"Comfort  first,  serious  matters  af tenvards. " 
It   is   not   wealth,    but   the   moral   indifference 

Sleeping   Citizenship.  42 


which  self-indulgence  engenders,  that  the   pro- 
phet condemns. 

4.  Another  phase  of  indifference  on  the 
part  of  this  people  was  a  false  faith.  To  the 
stern  accusations  of  the  prophet — the  truth  of 
which  could  not  be  denied — answer  is  made: 
"We  are  waiting  for  the  day  of  the  Lord.  He 
will  set  all  things  right.  It  is  God's  business. 
We  can  only  wait."  It  is  the  old  answer  of 
pious  laziness  to  the  call  of  duty.  It  is  the  old 
effort  to  shirk  responsibility  by  pleading  a  re- 
ligionism utterly  false.  "The  day  of  the  Lord 
will  come,"  says  Amos,  but  it  will  be  "darkness 
and  not  light,"  unless  you  rouse  yourselves 
from  your  lethargy  and  moral  apathy.  Let  no 
man  excuse  himself  from  active  participation 
in  any  effort  of  reform  by  supposing  that  God 
will  work  a  miracle  of  political  regeneration. 
God  uses  existing  agencies  to  bring  to  pass  his 
purposes.  It  is  through  the  men  and  women 
with  consciences,  enthusiasm  and  ideals  that 
our  present  abuses  will  be  eradicated.  God 
works  through  means,  and  the  means  are  to  be 
found  in  an  aroused  people— not  drunk  with 
passion,  but  calm  with  determination  to  bring 
in  a  better  day.  It  was  God  who  brought  to  us 
the  day  of  political  liberty,  but  not  until  our 
forefathers  were  ready  to  die  for  the  cause  of 
independence.  It  was  God  who  gave  to  us  the 
reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  the 
•gift  was  conferred  through  the  awakened  con- 
science of  the  German  nation.  Yes,  we  are 
"waiting  for  the  day  of  the  Lord,"  but  we  dare 
not  \\iiil  idly.  We  are  waiting  for  the  overthrow 

4:5  Sleeping   Citizenship. 


of  our  enemies,  but  it  is  God's  strength  put  in 
human  arms  and  hearts  that  must  bring  about 
that  overthrow.  We  are  waiting  for  the  cessa- 
tion of  lawlessness,  but  we  shall  wait  in  vain 
unless  we  ourselves  become  law-abiding,  and  see 
to  it  ourselves  that  we  have  as  our  representa- 
tives those  who  put  law  above  license,  and  prin- 
ciple above  party.  Credulous  indeed  are  we,  if 
we  nurse  our  laziness  and  indifference,  thinking 
that  God  will  come  forth  as  a  besom  of  destruc- 
tion to  sweep  away  political  corruption.  The  day 
will  come — the  shadow  will  be  lifted— but  "men 
of  thought  and  men  of  action"  must  clear  the 
way. 

5.  The  nation  which  the  prophet  addresses 
was  at  ease  with  respect  to  the  future,  because 
its  outward  social  and  religious  observances 
were  still  maintained.  There  was  a  temple  at 
Dan  in  the  north,  at  Bethel  in  the  south  and  at 
Gilgal  midway  between  the  two.  The  national 
institutions  flourished.  Altars,  sacrifices,  and 
hymns  were  still  features  of  worship.  But  what 
says  God  through  the  mouth  of  his  prophet: 
"I  hate  and  despise  your  church  festivals:  I 
smell  no  sweet  savor  from  the  sacrifices  of  the 
great  crowds  at  your  feasts.  Though  you  bring 
me  burnt  sacrifices  and  flour  offerings,  I  will 
not  accept  them.  The  thank  offering  of  your 
fatted  calves,  I  will  not  look  upon.  Take  away 
from  before  me  the  voice  of  your  hymns,  chant- 
ed round  your  altars ;  let  me  not  hear  the  music 
of  the  harps  of  your  priests.  Instead  of  these, 
let  justice  flow  down  your  streets  like  water, 
and   righteousness   like   mighty   streams.      True 

Sleeping  Citizenship.  44 


religion,  not  outward,  is  the  thing  that  can  save 
you. ' ' 

The  prophet  thus  draws  for  us  in  masterful 
fashion  the  picture  of  a  nation  that  was  dead 
while  it  yet  lived— having  all  the  forms  of  re- 
ligion, but  wanting  its  spirit;  having  the  husk, 
but  wanting  the  kernel.  We  call  this  in  the 
church,  religious  formalism,  or  hypocritical 
Pharisaism.  But  is  it  not  time  to  talk  and 
think  about  political  formalism  and  political 
Pharisaism?  What  is  it?  It  is  having  all  the 
forms  of  government,  while  the  purpose  of 
government  is  ignored.  It  is  having  courts  and 
legislatures  and  political  institutions— all  the 
forms  that  are  necessary  in  the  conduct  of  gov- 
ernment—while the  spirit  of  righteousness  is 
wanting.  It  is  government  without  God.  It  is 
having  some  other  spirit  than  that  of  righteous- 
ness to  run  the  political  machinery,  so  that  we 
have  a  nation  without  life. 

We  have  a  galvanized  corpse  — the  semblance 
of  life,  but  not  its  reality.  Are  not  our  courts 
running  as  usual?  Yes,  but  they  are  a  mockery 
and  a  pretence  unless  they  are  being  run  in 
harmony  with  the  purpose  of  their  creation— 
the  promotion  of  justice  and  righteousness.  If 
they  are  dominated  by  party  spirit,  you  have 
the  form  of  a  court,  but  not  its  reality.  You 
have  a  thing  that  has  all  the  motions  of  a  court, 
but  maintained  by  mechanical  and  artificial 
means.  So  of  our  legislature  and  our  executive 
department.  As  long  as  these  departments  are 
dominated  by  the  purpose  of  their  creation 
the  bringing  to  pass  of  better  social,  economic 

45  Sleeping   Citizenship. 


and  righteous  conditions— they  are  discharging 
a  high  and  holy  mission.  But  when  the  spirit 
of  passion  takes  possession  of  them,  when  party 
zeal  is  the  secret  of  their  activity,  then  they  be- 
come mere  forms.  Then  God  turns  upon  them, 
as  upon  the  stickler  for  religious  reforms  with- 
out meaning,  and  say,  ' '  I  hate  and  despise  your 
courts  and  legislatures,  and  political  activity." 
What  is  it  that  God  asks  of  us?  "Let  justice 
flow  down  your  streets  like  water,  and  right- 
eousness like  mighty  streams." 


Sleeping   Citizenship.  4t; 


The  Citizen  on  Guard  ♦ 


An  address  delivered  in  anticipation  of  an  approaching 
election. 

My  subject  as  announced  is  entitled—  'The 
Citizen  on  Guard."  If  I  know  my  heart,  there 
is  in  it  no  other  desire  than  to  deepen  the  respon- 
sibility which  rests  upon  us  as  Christian  citi- 
zens and  to  dignify,  if  I  may.  the  high  and  sacred 
right  of  suffrage.  My  plea  shall  be  made  in  the 
name  of  the  Christ  of  truth  and  righteousness 
and  not  in  the  interest  of  any  party  or  candi- 
date. I  conceive  it  to  be  my  right — no  less  than 
my  privilege — to  speak  of  the  demands  that  are 
made  upon  us  by  the  voice  of  duty  and  the 
obligations  which  are  inherent  in  Christian  cit- 
izenship. The  pulpit  is  no  place  for  the  pro- 
clamation of  political  sectarianism ;  it  is  the 
place  from  which  should  be  sounded  forth  the 
unchanging  and  unchangeable  principles  of 
righteousness.  While  I  shall  not  intentionally 
drop  one  word  by  which  my  own  political  lean- 
ings can  be  discovered,  I  do  desire  to  place  my- 
self emphatically  on  the  side  of  truth,  order, 
law,  decency  and  fair  dealing,  and  in  doing  this, 
I  am  not  registering  myself  as  a  member  of  any 
of  the  parties  contending  for  supremacy,  for  no 
one  of  them  has  a  monopoly  of  these  virtues  and 
excellencies. 

Let  me  urge  upon  every  Christian  man  who 
is  legally  entitled  to  exercise  the  right  of  suf- 
frage, to  east  his  vote  in  the  coining  election.  It 
is  not  my  right,  nor  have  I  any  desire  1<>  tell  you 

47  The   Citizen   on    Guard. 


how  to  vote ;  it  is  my  right  to  urge  upon  you  with 
all  possible  earnestness  the  imperative  duty  which 
claims  you  as  Christian  citizens,  (a).  There  are 
those  who  claim  that  a  Christian  man  should  not 
exercise  the  right  of  suffrage.  They  claim  that 
since  the  State  and  the  Church  are  separate  in- 
stitutions, the  Christian  man  should  leave  those 
who  are  not  Christians  to  take  care  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  State  and  Nation.  This  is  equivalent 
to  saying  that  a  Christian  man  should  not  take 
any  part  in  any  of  the  activities  that  are  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  from  the  life  of  the  church.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  he  should  not  enter  into 
business  or  literature  as  a  distinct  profession, 
or  art  or  any  of  the  thousand  humanitarian  and 
refining  agencies  that  are  contributing  to  the 
betterment  of  the  world  .  In  other  words,  there 
is  nothing  left  for  him  to  do,  except  to  go  to 
church  and  sing  psalms. 

First,  let  me  say,  that  such  procedure  on  the 
part  of  Christian  men  is  a  denial  of  the  very 
aim  and  purpose  of  the  Christian  religion,  which 
is  to  christianize  all  government  and  bring  it 
under  the  sway  of  Christ's  rule  and  life.  If 
men  who  are  not  Christians  are  to  be  the  exclu- 
sive governing  power  of  the  nation,  then  gov- 
ernment will  mean  no  more  than  the  reign  of 
wickedness,  and  Christianity  might  as  well  not 
exist,  since  its  influence  is  to  be  kept  in  the  air- 
tight compartment  of  the  church. 

Secondly,  it  is  a  cowardly  attempt  to  escape 
responsibility— a  responsibility  which  is  thrust 
upon  every  American  citizen  whether  he  be  in 
the  church  or  out  of  the  church.     One  does  not 

The   Citizen  on   Guard.  48 


cease  to  be  an  American  citizen  when  he  comes 
into  the  church,  otherwise  the  church  would  be 
an  enemy  to  the  government  and  could  not  con- 
sistently ask  to  remain  in  its  territory.  Chris- 
tianity aims  to  make  him  a  better  citizen.  Not 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  an  American  citizen 
is  simply  to  be  a  shirker. 

Thirdly,  This  refusal  of  suffrage  on  the  part 
of  Christian  men  is  not  only  to  turn  the  govern- 
ment over  to  the  exclusively  non-christian  forces 
and  to  shirk  a  responsibility  which  is  inherent 
in  American  citizenship,  but  it  is  to  fail  in  the 
discharge  of  a  plain  Christian  duty.  "Render 
unto  Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,"  is 
part  of  the  duty  enjoined  in  the  further  exhor- 
tation to  "render  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's."  No  man  can  discharge  his  duty  to 
God  who  is  neglecting  his  duty  to  Caesar. 

Fourthly,  It  is  to  deny  the  obligation  of 
rulership  in  the  injunction,  "let  those  who  rule 
do  so  with  diligence."  Every  citizen,  on  elec- 
tion day,  is  a  ruler.  It  is  for  him  to  say  what  the 
government  shall  be  and  do.  On  that  one  day, 
he  is  a  sovereign.  He  is  more  than  a  sentinel 
standing  on  guard,  he  is  a  king  swaying  a  scep- 
tre. Truly  the  honor  conferred  upon  him  is  an 
exalted  one  and  he  must  rise  to  the  demands 
which  this  honor  imposes,  (b).  Furthermore, 
there  are  not  a  few  Christian  men  who  refuse 
to  vote  because  of  the  corruption  of  the  exist- 
ing political  parties.  It  is  this  very  apathy 
which  is  at  the  root  of  our  troubles.  If  a  man 
should  say,  "I  will  not  work  in  my  garden  be- 
cause there  are  so  many  weeds,"  he  would  preS- 
411  The    Citizen   on    Guard. 


ently  find  in  that  garden  nothing-  bnt  weeds. 
Because  the  parties  are  corrupt,  it  is  all  the 
more  imperative  that  you  should  do  your  duty 
as  a  Christian  citizen.  And,  besides,  we  must 
remember  that  we  can  but  use  existing  tools  until 
we  can  get  better.  To  say  that  we  will  have 
nothing  to  do  with  existing  parties  because  they 
are  bad,  is  to  fail  to  recognize  the  ministry  of 
the  imperfect — the  use  of  imperfect  means  to 
secure  better  conditions  in  the  coming  time.  If 
an  absolutely  perfect  party  existed — one  with 
a  monopoly  of  virtue — there  would  no  longer 
be  any  need  of  government,  for  the  millenial  age 
would  have  begun.  ( c) .  But  it  may  be  asked 
what  is  the  use  of  voting  when  your  vote  will  not 
be  counted  as  cast?  The  question  gives  me  op- 
portunity to  say  that  there  are  three  funda- 
mental principles  in  this  matter  of  voting,  the 
violation  of  which  constitutes  infamy  unspeak- 
able. 

First,  A  vote  should  be  free,  otherwise  it  is 
not  the  expression  of  the  voter's  honest  convic- 
tion. To  intimidate  a  voter  in  any  way,  wheth- 
er  by  threat  or  force,  should  bring  down  upon 
the  man  who  does  it  the  indignation  of  the 
community:  If  a  vote  be  not  free,  it  is  without 
meaning.  Before  election  is  the  time  to  argue  and 
enlighten,  but  on  election  day  the  voter  must 
be  permitted  to  register  his  honest  conviction. 
We  speak  of  religious  liberty — the  right  to  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own 
conscience,  none  daring  to  molest  or  make  afraid 
— let  us  see  to  it  that  the  voter  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty  shall  be  equally  protected  from  in- 

The  Citizen  on  Guard.  50 


terferenco.  Jesus  laid  the  axe  at  the  root  of  all 
intimidation  when  he  said — "Call  no  man  mas- 
ter." In  religion,  we  recognize  no  authority 
over  the  conscience  other  than  that  which  is 
divine ;  in  politics,  we  are  free  men  and  must  be 
permitted  to  enjoy  that  liberty  without  let  or 
hindrance.  Paul  said:  "Let  no  man  trouble 
me,  for  I  bear  in  my  body  the  marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  Tins  was  his  certificate  of  independ- 
ence— the  marks  of  his  master.  Likewise  the 
humblest  American  citizen  can  say,  "let  no  man 
trouble  me  in  the  exercise  of  my  sacred  right, 
for  I  bear  in  my  person  the  marks  and  legal 
evidence  of  an  American  Citizen." 

Second,  A  vote  should  be  unpurchasable 
and  unpurchased.  The  man  who  permits  him- 
self to  be  bribed  is  so  contemptible  as  to  call  for 
pity,  and  the  man  who  offers  a  bribe  is  taking 
advantage  of  this  depravity  and  insulting  hu- 
man nature  besides.  Here  are  two  great  par- 
ties, each  charging  the  other  with  the  use  of  a 
vast  corruption  fund  to  influence  the  poor  crea- 
tures that  can  be  bought  as  cattle  in  the  market. 
It  should  bring  the  blush  of  honest  shame  to 
the  cheek  of  any  man  who  claims  to  be  an  Amer- 
ican citizen. 

Third,  A  vote  should  be  counted  as  cast. 
Any  interference  with  the  votes  of  a  free  people 
is  worse  than  looting  the  sanctuary;  it  is  invad- 
ing  the  sacred  citadel  of  the  soul  itself.  It  is 
the  murder  of  self-government.  It  means  the 
crucifixion  of  the  Republic  of  our  fathers.  And 
lest  this  reference  shall  be  construed  as  parti- 
san,   in   the   light   of  recent  utterances,   permit 

51  The   Citizen   on    Guard. 


me  to  say  that  neither  of  the  great  parties  of 
this  country  is  exempt  from  this  infamy.  The 
commonplace  word  in  both  the  press  and  from 
the  rostrum  of  both  the  great  parties,  is  Fraud. 
Let  the  party  that  is  without  sin  in  this  partic- 
ular, cast  the  first  stone. 

Is  there  an  audience  of  Christian  men  in 
America  that  will  not  approve  the  sentiments 
which  have  been  uttered?  If  so,  we  have  reach- 
ed a  stage  of  moral  deterioration  that  calls  im- 
peratively for  the  moral  indignation  of  a  hun- 
dred Savonarolas  to  rouse  us  from  a  spiritual 
apathy  that  is  infinitely  worse  than  physical 
death.  I  care  not  what  may  be  your  party  affilia- 
tion, if  you  are  a  Christian  man  you  cannot  un- 
der any  circumstances  approve  of  intimidation, 
bribery  or  robbery.  Better  by  far  that  this  tre- 
mendous experiment  of  self-government  should 
never  have  been  made;  better  that  our  beloved 
America  should  never  have  stood  forth  on  these 
shores  as  the  champion  of  the  rights  of  man,  than 
that  her  people  should  forge  for  themselves 
chains  of  infamy  a  thousand  times  worse  than 
any  tyrannical  power  could  possibly  have  fas- 
tened upon  them. 

Fifth,  Let  me  further  urge  that  you  vote  in 
such  a  spirit  and  under  the  influence  of  such 
high  and  noble  feelings  as  that  the  act  for  you 
shall  be  transfigured.  As  says  another:  "The 
pulpit  is  the  place  for  enforcing  upon  the  con- 
sciences of  citizens  the  solemnity  and  sacred- 
ness  of  the  obligations  which  rest  upon  them 
and  their  duty  to  discharge  these  obligations 
(as  the  Prayerbook  says  of  another  great  en- 

Tlic   Citizen    on   Guard.  52 


gagement)  'reverently,  discreetly,  advisedly, 
soberly,  and  in  the  fear  of  God.'"  And  how 
shall  the  common,  ordinary  business  of  voting 
be  lifted  for  you  out  of  its  selfish,  profane  and 
coarse  environment  into  a  noble  and  splendid 
performance?  By  the  contemplation  of  the 
meaning  and  purpose  of  the  act.  (a).  Think  of 
what  the  privilege  of  self-government  has  cost. 
As  you  go  to  the  polls  on  next  Tuesday,  call  to 
mind  the  former  days  of  the  Republic.  Think 
of  the  toils,  tears  and  sacrifices  of  the  men  who 
made  it  possible  for  you  to  exercise  this  right 
of  suffrage.  Let  the  spirits  of  Washington  and 
the  Revolutionary  heroes  hover  over  you  and 
hear  them  as  they  say:  "We  fought  at  Lex- 
ington, Bunker  Hill  and  on  a  hundred  battle- 
fields that  we  might  confer  upon  you  the  glori- 
ous power  of  self-government.  See  that  you  are 
worthy  of  it  as  you  vote  to-day.  "(b).  Or,  again, 
think  of  your  country— its  present  welfare  and 
its  future  destiny.  Your  vote  will  contribute 
to  the  weal  or  woe  of  the  land  you  love.  Let 
your  ballot  represent  something  more  than  par- 
ty or  property  consideration.  Let  it  represent 
the  love  and  loyalty  of  an  American  citizen  for 
this  country  which  is  his  birth-right  and  under 
whose  flag  he  hopes  to  sleep  his  last  sleep. 

0,  friends,  let  us  do  what  little  we  can  to 
make  America  the  land  of  fulfillment — the  land 
where  the  noblest  ideals  of  the  old  world  Govern- 
ments shall  be  realized;  the  land  where  brother- 
hood shall  mean  equal  rights  for  all  and  special 
privileges  for  none;  the  land  where  liberty  shall 
be   an   actual   possession,    rather   than    a    noble 

53  The    Citizen   on    Guard. 


word  brought  forth  too  often  for  political  pa- 
rade or  rhetorical  effect;  the  land  upon  whose 
flag  shall  be  inscribed  in  letters  of  living  light, 
mingling  with  its  stars  and  stripes — as  forming 
part  of  the  very  life  and  constitution  of  the  na- 
tion—this sentence:  "Righteousness  exalts  a 
nation."  May  I  conclude  with  the  sentiment  of 
a  distinguished  Englishman  as  he  contemplates 
the  destiny  of  the  American  Republic  in  a  mo- 
ment of  high  inspiration :  "In  that  memorable 
hour— memorable  in  the  life  of  every  man,  me- 
morable as  when  he  sees  the  first  view  of  the 
pyramids  or  of  the  snow-clad  range  of  the  Alps 
— in  the  hour  when  for  the  first  time  I  stood  be- 
fore the  cataracts  of  Niagara,  I  seemed  to  see  a 
vision  of  the  fears  and  hopes  of  America.  It 
was  midnight,  the  moon  was  full  and  I  saw 
from  the  suspension  bridge  the  ceaseless  contor- 
tion, confusion,  whirl  and  chaos  which  burst 
forth  in  clouds  of  foam  from  that  immense  cen- 
tral chasm  which  divides  the  American  from  the 
British  dominion ;  but  as  I  looked  on  that  ever- 
changing  movement  and  listened  to  that  ever- 
lasting roar,  I  saw  an  emblem  of  the  devouring 
activity  and  ceaseless,  restless,  beating  whirl- 
pool of  existence  in  the  United  States.  But  into 
the  moonlight  sky  there  rose  a  cloud  of  spray 
twice  as  high  as  the  Falls  themselves,  silent, 
majestic.  In  that  silver  column,  glittering  in  the 
moonlight,  I  saw  an  image  of  the  future  of 
America's  destiny,  of  the  pillar  of  light  which 
should  emerge  from  the  distractions  of  the  pres- 
ent—a likeness  of  the  buoyancy  and  hopefulness 
which  characterize  the  American  both  as  indi- 

The  Citizen  on  Guard.  54 


viduals  and  as  a  nation. ' '  Out  of  the  confusion 
and  excitement  of  the  coming  election  and  out 
of  the  storm  and  stress  of  many  another  experi- 
ence, America  shall  come  forth  with  eye  undim- 
med  and  strength  unabated,  for  God  is  with  her 
and  his  purpose  shall  not  fail. 


5f> 


The   Citizen   on    Guard. 


Public  Men  and  Morals* 


This  address,  altho'  delivered  during  a  political  cam- 
paign, finds  its  justification  in  every  period  of  the  Republic's 
history.  The  text  of  the  address  is  taken  from  Exodus,  ISth 
chapter,  as  follows:  "Moreover  thou  shalt  provide  out  of 
all  the  people  able  men,  such  as  fear  God,  men  of  truth, 
"hating   unjust   gain." 

The  time  has  come  when  men  who  ask  from 
the  people  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility 
must  be  required  to  show  their  credentials  of  fit- 
ness for  the  positions  they  seek.  When  men  ask 
for  our  support  in  order  that  they  may  be  plac- 
ed in  public  office,  our  own  moral  self-respect 
demands  that  we  shall  consider  their  moral 
■character.  It  is  not  enough  that  they  represent 
our  economic  views,  but  do  they  represent  our 
moral  convictions?  Righteousness  is  more  vital 
than  the  most  orthodox  political  faith.  Out- 
candidate  must  represent  those  eternal  princi- 
ples of  truth  and  justice  without  which  no  indi- 
vidual or  government  can  long  escape  the  just 
punishment  of  Almighty  God. 

The  sort  of  man  whom  we  can  support  con- 
scientiously is  not  required  to  be  an  ideal  man- 
one  who  is  without  "fault  or  blemish."  "We 
will  not  construct  him  from  poetry  and  fiction. 
We  will  not  ask  that  he  shall  be  an  "Achilles, 
who,  in  the  hour  of  battle  can  bear  himself  like 
iron  and  who  has  a  hand  that  can  feel  the  fall 
of  a  rose  petal."  We  will  not  put  him  upon  a 
pedestal  with  a  diadem  of  stars  upon  his  brow. 
We  are  not.  asking  for  an  impracticable  and 
impossible  humanity.      The   man   of   whom   we 

.57  Public   Men   and  Morals. 


speak  is  only  an  every-day  man  of  flesh  and 
blood,  who  possesses  certain  qualifications  for 
public  office— chief  among  which  shall  be  his 
unswerving,  unpurchasable  moral  integrity. 
His  goodness  is  not  of  the  tame  and  insipid 
variety.  It  is  the  goodness  which  has  its  roots 
in  conscience  and  in  that  moral  nature  with 
which  God  has  endowed  him — the  goodness 
which  feels  righteous  indignation  in  the  presence 
of  infamy  and  which,  conscious  of  its  sure 
foundation,  says : 

Come  one,  come  all,  this  rock  shall  fly 
From   its  firm  base  as  soon  as  I. 

No  more  concise  and  yet  comprehensive 
statement  of  the  qualifications  for  public  office 
in  a  Republic  can  be  found  than  that  given  m 
the  advice  of  Jethro  to  Moses.  It  should  serve 
as  the  "vade  mecum"  of  every  official — from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest — in  our  great  country. 

First,  Our  public  men — those  who  are  to  rep- 
resent the  people— should  be  chosen  from  the 
people.  "Moreover,  thou  shalt  provide  out  of 
all  the  people  *  *  *  men."  "Self-govern- 
ment by  the  people  and  for  the  people,  with 
God  above  as  the  invisible  Counselor  and  Pro- 
tector," was  declared  to  be  the  true  government 
by  the  Old  Testament  writers.  The  original 
polity  of  the  Hebrews  was  essentially  that  of  a 
republic.  The  establishment  of  Jewish  kings 
was  a  human  suggestion,  which  Jehovah  allow- 
ed, but  warned  them  against  it,  bidding  Samuel 
tell  them  that  in  seeking  a  king  "they  have  re- 
jected me,  that  I  should  not  reign  over  them/ 
But  our  public  officers  must  be  chosen,  not  only 

Public  Men  and  Morals.  5g 


by  the  people,  but  from  the  people,  in  order  that 
association  and  knowledge  may  fit  them  to  pro- 
perly represent  the  people.  It  is  required  of 
men  who  are  to  speak  for  the  people  that  they 
shall  know  the  people,  their  needs,  their  hopes, 
their  aspirations,  their  burdens.  No  man  who 
has  not  put  his  ear  close  to  the  heart  of  the 
people,  and  heard  its  beating,  can  represent 
them  fairly  in  any  public  position.  This  knowl- 
edge can  come  only  from  association  and  sym- 
pathy— meeting  the  people,  talking  with  them, 
as  brother  to  brother— and  having  one's  heart 
stirred  by  their  woes  and  hopes.  Contempt  of 
the  people  or  supercilious  treatment  of  the  peo- 
pla  absolutely  unfits  any  man  to  represent  them. 
Our  public  men — especially  just  before  elec- 
tion—are adepts  in  flattering  the  people,  but 
unless  they  are  genuine  lovers  of  the  people, 
their  whole  public  service  is  hypocrisy  and  pre- 
tence. By  the  people,  I  mean  the  struggling, 
battling,  toiling  masses.  James  G.  Blaine  never 
uttered  truer  words  than  these:  "America's 
peculiar  glory  is  in  the  masses— their  intelli- 
gence, their  comfort,  their  domestic  happiness 
and  dignity,  their  right  thinking  and  right  act- 
ing, their  recognition  and  due  discharge  of  re- 
sponsibility, their  freedom  from  unworthy  ambi- 
tion, their  adoption  of  intellectual,  moral  and 
spiritual  aims.  If  in  this  she  does  not  excel  all 
other  nations,  America  will  have  been  discover- 
ed in  vain.  Great  men,  prodigies  of  thought, 
poets,  philosophers,  inventors,  generals,  preach- 
ers, scientists — the  republic  has  them  all.  But 
such    natures  break  all  bonds  everywhere  and 

59  Public  Men    and  Morals. 


come  to  the  front  by  virtue  of  inborn  and  ir- 
repressible energy.  No  continent  need  be  laid 
bare  for  them.  They  force  their  own  field.  It 
is  the  will  and  opportunity  of  the  masses,  help- 
less, except  in  combination  and  organization, 
for  whom  America  was  kept  intact  and  virgin 
from  shore  to  shore— tenanted  by  no  man  and 
no  race  that  left  an  institution  to  hamper  the 
future."  We  want  not  one  "great  commoner," 
but  hundreds  if  we  shall  long  remain  more  than 
a  Republic  in  name.  Is  it  of  the  people,  other 
than  as  means  for  keeping  them  in  office,  that 
our  public  officials  are  thinking?  Does  the  up- 
lift of  humanity  come  to  them  as  a  spur  and  in- 
centive to  noble  endeavor? 

Second,  Our  public  men  must  be  ' '  able  men. ' ' 
Ability  of  a  certain  sort  we  unquestionably  have 
among  our  politicians.  There  are  men  who  are 
able  to  control  primaries  and  to  lead  voters  to 
do  their  bidding  as  submissively  as  sheep  led  to 
the  slaughter.  Able  are  they  in  manipulating 
the  machinery  of  an  election,  and  in  adjusting 
policies  to  their  wishes.  And  really  it  takes 
some  intellectual  vigor  to  be  a  political  boss,  a 
certain  grasp  of  details,  and  force  of  will  and 
executive  talent,  which,  if  employed  righteously, 
would  make  of  the  political  boss  a  most  respect- 
able citizen.  Nobody  denies  ability  to  his 
Satanic  Majesty.  But  it  is  of  genuine  ability 
—the  ability  of  character  and  brains  I  am  now 
thinking.  Have  we  not  had  about  enough  of 
the  machine  politician?  George  William  Cur- 
tis says : 

"Could  Gladstone  have  so  swayed  England 

Public  Men  and  Morals.  (50 


with  his  fervent  eloquence,  as  the  moon  the 
tides,  had  he  been  a  gambling,  swearing,  boozing 
'Squire,  like  "Walpole?  There  is  no  sophistry 
more  poisonous  to  the  State,  no  folly  more  stu- 
pendous and  demoralizing  than  the  notion  that 
the  purest  character  and  the  highest  education 
are  incompatible  with  the  most  commanding 
mastery  of  men  and  the  most  efficient  adminis- 
tration of  affairs."  In  every  other  realm  than 
politics,  it  is  admitted  that  ability  is  the  condi- 
tion of  success.  "VVe  insist  that  the  engineer 
should  be  no  novice,  for  life  is  at  stake;  that  the 
physician  shall  not  be  a  quack  for  the  same  rea- 
son. Let  us  demand  that  our  public  men  shall 
be  men  of  ability,  for  the  life  of  a  government 
is  at  stake.  In  God's  name,  let  us  not  continue 
to  turn  over  the  management  of  serious  affairs 
of  government  to  ward  politicians,  who  can 
swear  and  drink  and  swagger  and  bulldoze,  but 
who  imagine  nothing  higher  than  that  America 
was  discovered  to  keep  them  in  a  job. 

Former  Secretary  Olney,  in  an  address  on 
the  "Scholar  in  Politics,"  has  this  to  say: 

"In  respect  to  the  true  worth  and  dignity 
of  politics,  the  educated  class,  if  they  have  not 
shared,  have  at  least  given  countenance  to  the 
most  pernicious  error  in  popular  speech  and 
popular  thought.  The  pursuit  of  politics  as  a 
profession,  instead  of  being  an  adoption  of  the 
most  ennobling  of  vocations,  is  hardly  respecta- 
ble. *  *  This  degrading  view  of  politics  the  edu- 
cated class  is  responsible  for,  because  it  studi- 
ously stands  aloof  from  politics  and  persistently 
neglects  to  prepare  a  suitable  quota  of  its  mem- 

(>l  Public  Men   and  Morals. 


bers  for  the  discharge  of  political  duties."  And 
where  educated  men  hesitate  to  enter,  rascals 
do  not  fear  to  tread.  I  see  no  salvation  from 
the  rule  of  the  boss  and  the  machine  until  our 
men  of  ability— men  who  have  studied  public 
questions— shall  forego  a  life  of  ease  and  ele- 
gance, and  for  love  of  country,  enter  the  less 
pleasing,  but  more  important  arena  of  politics. 
The  crying  need  of  politics  to-day  is  men  of  abil- 
ity— men  in  whose  leadership  we  have  confi- 
dence, whose  names  are  synonymous  with  intel- 
lectual force,  and  whose  primacy  will  not  be 
questioned  by  their  followers.  It  is  worth  while 
to  give  up  a  lucrative  position  for  the  sake  of 
country.  What  are  our  colleges  and  universi- 
ties doing  for  the  politics  of  our  State?  Shall 
every  other  profession  have  its  ornaments  and 
the  science  of  government  be  degraded  into  a 
source  of  revenue  only? 

Men  who  "fear  God"  is  the  third  mention- 
ed qualification,  although  fundamental  and  pri- 
mary. Rugged  Thomas  Carlyle,  in  the  midst 
of  his  despair  says:  "A  very  great  work, 
surely,  is  going  on  in  these  days— no  less  a  work 
than  that  of  restoring  God  and  whatever  was 
God-like  in  the  traditions  and  recorded  doings 
of  mankind.  The  essential  and  still  awful  and 
ever-blessed  fact  of  all  that  was  meant  by  'God 
and  the  God-like'  to  men's  souls  is  again  strug- 
gling to  become  clearly  revealed,  will  extricate 
itself  from  what  some  of  us,  too  irreverently  in 
our  importance,  call  'Hebrew  old  clothes,'  and 
will  again  bless  the  nations  and  heal  them  from 
their  baseness  and  unendurable  woes  and  wan- 

Public  Men  and  Morals.  02 


derings  in  the  company  of  madness."  What  is 
it  to  fear  God?  It  is  to  reverence  that  which 
God  is— truth,  holiness,  love.  Wanting  this 
reverence,  we  shall  reverence  no  other  authori- 
ty. Our  public  men  must  have  some  other  use 
for  the  name  of  God  than  to  point  an  oath  or 
adorn  a  joke.  It  matters  little  whether  the 
name  of  God  be  found  in  our  Constitution ;  it 
is  of  infinite  importance  that  the  authority  of 
God  be  recognized  in  our  government.  I  do  not 
insist  that  our  officials  shall  represent  any 
church  or  any  creed— but  only  that  their  work 
shall  be  done  as  under  the  "great  Taskmas- 
ter's" eye.  Pitiable,  indeed,  was  the  state  of 
France,  when  an  author  could  say:  "France 
believed  neither  in  the  ancient  God,  who  had 
been  despoiled,  nor  in  the  new  God,  who  had  just 
been  proclaimed ;  the  Eternal  Father  was  too 
old,  and  the  Supreme  Being  was  too  young." 
Anarchy  and  atheism  go  hand  in  hand. 

Nor  will  it  do  to  say  that  the  same  standard 
by  which  we  measure  the  private  citizen  should 
not  be  applied  to  the  public  officer.  His  high 
position  increases  his  responsibility.  Is  moral- 
ity applicable  only  to  the  humble  and  unno- 
ticed? Shall  greatness  be  exempt  from  its  re- 
quirements? Shall  we  look  for  it  in  ordinary, 
unpoetical  lives — and  judge  genius  by  some  dif- 
ferent standard?  Is  there  any  favoritism  in 
the  realm  of  right?  James  G.  Holland  says: 
'To  all  those  whose  education  in  the  truth  has 
been  limited,  whose  circumstances  of  life  have 
been  adverse  to  the  development  of  purity,  who 
are  weak  and  ignoranl  and  low  in  instinct  and 

63  Public  Men   and  Morals. 


aspiration,  I  would  extend  a  charity  that  pities 
while  it  blames  and  considers  while  it  con- 
demns. But  to  sin  in  high  places,  among  men 
and  women  who  are  crowned  kings  and  queens 
in  the  realm  of  intellect — those  whose  brows  have 
been  lifted  into  God's  own  light  and  whose 
tongues  and  pens  reveal  something  of  the  divini- 
ty which  struggles  to  enthrone  itself  in  them— no 
excuses,  no  palliations,  no  patronage. ' '  To  canon- 
ize vicious  greatness  is  to  undermine  the  founda- 
tions of  God's  throne.  The  man  who  does  not 
reverence  God  reverences  not  himself  or  his 
brother  man,  both  of  whom  are  made  in  the  im- 
age of  God  and  he  is  therefore  a  menace  to  any 
community. 

Fok rili.  Our  public  men  must  be  "men  of 
truth."  The  man  of  truth  is  one  whose  nature 
is  true,  and  who,  therefore,  speaks  the  truth 
and  lives  the  truth.  A  true  organ  is  an  instru- 
ment that  gives  forth  no  false  note.  Its  nature 
is  sound.  The  true  man  does  not  lie— not  be- 
cause it  is  forbidden,  but  because  his  nature  is 
in  accord  with  the  divine  law.  God  give  us 
"men  of  truth,"  whose  plighted  word  is  as  good 
as  any  bond  and  to  whom  all  falseness,  trickery 
and  corruption  are  abominations.  These  words, 
spoken  recently  by  a  distinguished  political 
leader,  are  worthy  of  everlasting  remembrance : 
' '  I  believe  we  should  go  back  to  those  days  when 
men  were  measured  by  their  integrity,  by  their 
fidelity  and  not  by  the  standard  of  wealth.  A 
good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great 
riches.  And  I  would  that  that  quotation  from 
Solomon  might  find  a  lodgment  in  the  heart  of 

Public  Men  and  Morals.  (54 


every  man  elected  to  a  public  office,  so  that  no 
matter  what  temptation  came,  no  matter  what  ad- 
vantage might  be  offered  to  him  as  a  reward  for 
departure  from  the  path  of  duty,  he  would  re- 
member that  nothing  that  could  be  bestowed  by 
an  interested  party  would  be  equal  to  the  reward 
that  he  would  find  in  the  consciousness  of  having 
".'ell  performed  his  duty."  Let  a  man  be  ambi- 
tious, if  only  his  ambition  shall  not  lead  him  to 
be  false.  "Climb,  but  with  honor."  is  a  motto 
which  our  public  men  might  adopt  with  advan- 
tage to  themselves.  The  "man  of  truth"  is 
greater  than  any  Croesus  who  has  builded  his 
fortune  dishonestly.  Can  you  think  of  one 
higher  than  the  "Man  of  Nazareth"?  His 
proudest  distinction  was  this— "I  am  the  truth." 

'Be  true  to  yourself  and  it  will  follow  as  the 
night  the  day.  thou  canst  not  be  false  to  any 
man." 

Finally,  "men  hating  unjust  gain"  is  an 
indispensable  qualification.  Greed  of  gold  is 
our  curse.  It  penetrates  with  its  poison  our 
whole  civilization.  And  so  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  public  office  is  sought  as  a  source  of  reve- 
nue only.  The  average  politician  wants  office, 
not  as  a  public  trust,  but  as  a  "private  snap." 
The  office  is  used  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  peo- 
ple, but  for  the  benefil  of  the  holder.  The  office 
of    Publican    anions    the    Jews    was    a    position 

'farmed  out."  so  that  the  Publican,  in  order  to 
reimburse  himself,  robbed  the  people.  Is  not 
something  akin  to  that  the  state  of  affairs  in  our 
own  country?  Men  spend  so  much  money  in 
getting  the  office  thai  they  use  the  office  to  their 

»')■")  Public  Men   and  Morals. 


own  advantage  and  profit.  Has  public  office  no 
higher  meaning  than  to  make  it  pay  some  pov- 
erty-stricken individual?  "Public  office  is  a 
public  trust"  is  a  catch  phrase  until  we  have 
some  high  examples  of  its  meaning  in  public 
life.  Office  is  opportunity— opportunity  open- 
ed to  do  something  that  shall  be  helpful  to  hu- 
manity. It  is  an  open  door  of  service.  It  is  an 
honor  which  demands  the  sacred  discharge  of 
its  duties  and  responsibilities.  "Noblesse  obligi . " 


Public  Men  and  Morals.  HH 


The  Ministry  of  Warnings* 

An  address  delivered  after  the  assassination  of  a  prom- 
inent politician  when  the  reputation  of  the  State  was  dis- 
honored   by    a    foul    crime. 

It  has  been  said:  "To  the  warning  word  no 
man  has  respect,  only  to  the  flattering  and  prom- 
ising is  his  attention  directed."  None  the  less 
true  and  divine  is  the  ministry  of  warnings. 
"  hey  are  the  uplifted  hand  of  God  to  stay  the 
mad  march  of  humanity:  they  are  the  divine 
signals  of  danger— the  red  light  of  heaven  giv- 
ing notice  of  peril  ahead;  they  are  angels  of 
mercy  with  the  message  "beware"  on  their  lips. 

Every  pain  warns  us  against  disease;  every 
disorder  warns  us  against  its  cause;  every 
wrecked  life  wains  us  against  sin.  We  live  in 
a  world  of  warnings,  each  one  of  which  pro- 
claims  the    protecting    love    of    that    heavenly 

her  who  is  not  willing  that  any  man  or  na- 
tion should  perish,  and.  therefore,  sends  the 
warning  before  the  woe.  the  flash  before  the 
fall.  "Earth  has  scarcely  an  acre  that  does  not 
remind  us  of  actions  that  have  long  preceded 
our  own.  and  its  clustering  tombstones  loom  up 
like  reefs  of  the  eternal  shore  to  show  us  where 
so  many  human  barks  have  struck  and  gone 
down." 

Tin-  ministry  of  warnings  is  one  of  the  ways 
in  which  God  shows  himself  to  be  still  living 
and  interested  in  the  welfare  of  His  children. 
In  every  warning  Me  is  s^yin^  to  us:  "I  am 
watching  for  you.  Here  is  danger:  avoid  it. 
There    is   a    yawning    chasm;   halt.      There  are 

67  Ministry   of   Warni 


bleached  and  whitened  bones  all  along-  the  way 
upon  which  you  are  about  to  enter:  beware. 
There  is  death  in  the  cup ;  do  not  put  it  to  your 
lips."  Blessed  is  the  man  who  hears  this  voice 
and  gives  heed  to  its  message.  For  him,  it  is  yet 
time  to  save  the  day,  to  turn  threatened  defeat 
into  triumphant  victory. 

In  my  address  to-night  I  shall  speak  of  the 
ministry  of  warnings  in  its  bearing  upon  the 
State  we  love,  and  in  whose  soil  we  hope  some 
day  peacefully  to  rest. 

It  seems  to  me  that  our  present  political  con- 
dition, and  the  causes  which  have  brought  it 
about,  constitute  a  warning  against  unrighteous 
leadership,  unrighteous  partisanship,  unright- 
eous methods  and  unrighteous  indifference  on 
the  part  of  Christian  citizens;  a  warning,  I  say, 
as  conspicuous  and  clear  as  even  the  articulate 
voice  of  God  himself  could  have  made  it.  The 
happenings  of  the  past  few  weeks  as  imperative- 
ly call  upon  us  to  halt  in  the  path  we  are  tread- 
ing as  if  some  trumpet-tongued  angel  of  heaven 
had  issued  the  order.  We  have  seen,  as  never 
before,  the  outworking  of  party  passion ;  we 
have  seen  to  what  desperate  measures  greed  of 
office  will  drive  men;  we  have  seen  the  results 
of  corrupt  political  methods  written  in  blood; 
Ave  have  seen  a  State  government  severed  in 
twain  before  our  very  eyes ;  we  have  read  in  the 
press  of  the  country  the  story  of  our  disgrace 
and  humiliation;  we  have  been  put  upon  so 
lofty  a  pinnacle  of  shame  that  we  have  been 
unable  to  escape  the  gaze  of  our  remotest  neigh- 

TUinistry   of   Warnings.  68 


bors — surely  this  bitter  experience  is  a  warning 
against    further   political    transgression. 

News   therefore,   be  wise,   O  ye  kings  : 

Be    instructed,    ye   judges   of   the   earth. 

Serve  the   Lord   with   fear   and   rejoice   with   trembling; 

Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  in  the  way, 

For  His  wrath  will   soon   be  kindled. 

1.  It  is  the  ministry  of  these  warnings  to 
eall  us  back  to  God,  for  all  our  trouble  lias 
sprung  from  our  forgetfulness  of  God.  In  the 
abuse  of  the  ballot,  in  the  resort  to  trickery  and 
intimidation,  in  the  attempt  to  bribe,  in  the  crim- 
ination and  recrimination  of  our  journalists, 
in  the  ruthless  trampling  under  foot  of  or- 
der and  decency — in  these  and  other  par- 
ticulars we  have  been  dishonoring  God,  for  eve- 
ry transgression  and  disobedience  of  the  State 
is  open  rebellion  against  the  divine  govern- 
ment. The  Psalmist  recognizes  this  truth  when 
he  represents  the  wickedness  of  nations  as  an  at- 
tempt to  cast  off  the  authority  of  God.  "The 
kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves  and  the  rulers 
take  counsel  together  against  the  Lord  and 
against  His  anointed,  saying,  Let  us  break  their 
bands  asunder  and  cast  away  their  cords  from 
us."  Every  such  effort  brings  its  consequences 
of  disaster  and  grief.  "He  that  sitteth  in  the 
heavens  shall  laugh;  the  Lord  shall  have  them 
in  derision.  Then  shall  He  speak  unto  them 
in  His  wrath  and  vex  them  in  His  sore  displeas- 
ure.'" Who  can  adequately  express  the  awful 
meaning  involved  in  the  simple  phrase— "for- 
getting God"?  As  says  another.  "God  forgot- 
ten is  God  ignored;  God  ignored  is  God  doubt- 

gg  Ministry   of    Warnings. 


ed;.God  doubted  is  God  denied;  God  denied  is 
sooner  or  later  God  detested."  Let  us  be  warn- 
ed in  time. 

Let  us  come  back  to  simple  faith  in  honesty, 
purity  and  justice.  We  have  tasted  some  of  the 
fruits  of  political  wrong-doing ;  let  us  now  ' '  turn 
unto  the  Lord,  who  will  have  mercy,  and  unto 
our  God,  who  will  abundantly  pardon."  There 
is  heart-rending  tragedy  in  the  slow  and  grad- 
ual withdrawal  of  God  from  a  people  who  by 
their  wickedness  have  declared  "We  will  not 
have  the  Lord  to  reign  over  us."  Canon  Farrar 
describes  the  Jewish  conception  of  this  widen- 
ing breach.  "God  had  spoken  to  them  (the 
Jews  said)  face  to  face,  as  to  Adam  in  Para- 
dise; then  only  by  the  Urim;  then  only  by 
dreams;  then  only  by  prophets;  then  only  by 
the  vague  uncertainties  of  the  daughter  of  a 
voice,  which  was  but  to  the  few  an  intelligible 
utterance,  to  the  many  but  an  articulate  roll- 
ing of  the  distant  thunder  peal."  0!  my 
friends,  it  is  possible  by  our  continuance  in 
wickedness  to  make  the  clear  voice  of  God  to  us 
an  awful  silence  or  only  the  "far-off  roll  of  the 
retreating  thunder."  And  the  last  condition 
is  that  of  blank,  horrible  materialism  in  which 
man  is  no  better  than  the  brute  which  perish- 
eth. 

2.  We  have  been  warned  not  only  by  the 
actual  occurrences  of  recent  days,  but  as  Avell 
through  an  aroused  political  conscience.  The 
very  shame  we  have  been  able  to  feel  is  a  warn- 
ing against  further  transgression,  for  every  new 
offense  means  less  susceptibility  to  the  beauty 

Ministry   of   Warnings.  70 


of  truth  and  the  binding  force  of  righteousness. 
It  is  not  yet  too  late  to  recover  our  self-respect, 
for  we  can  still  blush  for  our  sins,  we  can  still 
feel  the  sting  of  conscience,  we  can  still  recog- 
nize the  awful  disparity  between  that  which  is 
and  that  which  ought  to  be.  Thank  God,  we 
have  not  become  so  bad  as  to  be  content  in  our 
badness.  Not  yet  have  we  become  wholly  im- 
pervious to  the  demands  of  decency  and  justice. 
This  very  prodding  of  conscience  is  a  warn- 
ing against  continuance  in  our  evil  ways.  The 
danger  consists  in  the  death  of  conscience. 
"'When  there  is  any  hope  for  a  wound  it  contin- 
ues to  give  pain,  but  when  it  has  mortified,  the 
pain  ceases."  Even  so  ceases  the  throb  of  a 
conscience  which  is  sleeping  and  dead.  "For," 
in  the  strong  language  of  a  modern  writer, 
"'either  its  voice  grows  fainter  and  fainter  as  the 
voice  of  temptation  grows  louder  and  louder 
or  becoming  hateful  by  its  reiterated  condem- 
nation, it  so  inflames  the  sinner's  anger  that  he 
deliberately  silence-s,  chokes  and  murders  it.  And 
then  lie  is  let  alone.  His  conscience  will  cease 
to  torment  him.  and  then  he  may  go  on  for  years 
and  years,  filling  to  the  brim  the  cup  of  his  ini- 
quity: for  years  and  years  he  may  be  dishonest, 
a  drunkard,  an  adulterer,  a  blasphemer  and 
never  once  boar  again  the  voice  be  lias  stifled. 
Nay  more,  he  may.  such  is  the  mystery  of  ini- 
quity and  because  it  is  <  tod  's  decree  that  the  more 
we  know  of  sin.  tbe  less  we  feel  its  real  nature. 
he  may  actually  substitute  for  conscience  an- 
other voice;  ;i  voice  not  true,  but  lying:  a  voice 
thai  palliates,  that  excuses,  that  encourages,  that 

7]  Ministry   of    Warnings. 


whispers  continually,  'Peace,  peace,'  when  there 
is  no  peace.  And  this  is  the  most  perilous  of  all. 
It  comes  to  all  in  proportion  to  their  guiltiness, 
in  proportion  to  their  insincerity."  The  history 
of  the  individual  is  the  history  of  the  State  and 
nation.  May  God  save  us  from  a  seared  con- 
science !  Let  any  punishment  befall  rather  than 
that,  for  with  the  death  of  conscience,  all  hope 
dies,  and  the  mourners  may  well  go  about  the 
streets.  What  is  physical  death  in  comparison? 
Truly  the  king  is  dead,  when  such  an  awful 
catastrophe  becomes  history. 

3.  The  warnings  of  God,  let  us  remember, 
are  not  generally  attended  with  noises  and 
voices.  Their  tread  is  not  heard.  They  give 
forth  no  thunder  to  announce  their  presence. 
Of  the  warning  given  to  Jerusalem  to  which  we 
have  referred,  we  read— "there,  before  the 
Savior's  gaze  of  tears,  lay  a  city,  splendid  appa- 
rently—and in  peace,  and  destined  to  enjoy  an- 
other half  century  of  existence.  And  the  day 
was  a  common  day:  the  hour  a  common  hour; 
no  thunder  was  throbbing  in  the  blue,  uncloud- 
ed sky;  no  deep  voices  of  departing  deities  were 
rolling  through  the  golden  doors,  and  yet- 
soundless  to  mortal  ears  in  the  nnrippled  air  of 
eternity— the  knell  of  her  destiny  had  begun 
to  toll,  and  in  the  voiceless  dialect  of  heaven, 
the  fiat  of  her  doom  had  been  pronounced,  and 
in  that  realm  which  knoweth  and  needeth  not 
any  light  save  the  light  of  God,  the  sun  of  her 
moral  existence  had  gone  down  while  it  yet 
was  day."  And  so  our  warning — the.  warning 
to  our  State — has  not  come  to  us  with  supernat- 

Jvinistry   of   Warnings.  72 


lira!  manifestations,  but  rather  in  the  nature 
of  intimations  and  tendencies. 

The  single  thread  of  flame  gives  warning 
that  the  house  will  be  destroyed;  that  slight 
flame  is  the  beginning  of  a  mighty  conflagra- 
tion :  and  so  recent  happenings  are  tendencies  to 
warn  us  against  inevitable  ruin  unless  these 
tendencies  are  checked.  "A  physical  accident, 
a  criminal  ambition,  a  misinterpreted  dispatch, 
the  changing  of  a  word,  the  stumbling  of  a 
horse,  have  influenced  the  fortune  of  nations." 
An  assassin's  bullet  is  enough  to  startle  us  from 
our  lethargy.  It  is  the  outcome  of  a  political 
and  moral  condition  which  may  well  give  us 
pause.  It  is  a  symptom,  but  a  symptom  which 
proclaims  a  dangerous  disease.  We  dare  not 
look  upon  it  as  insignificant  when  our  indiffer- 
ence to  its  meaning  or  our  heed  of  its  message 
may  change  the  whole  current  of  our  political 
history  for  better  or  worse. 

Further,  our  very  privileges  are  our  warn- 
ings. When  one  stands  upon  a  lofty  eminence, 
he  must  needs  beware  lest  he  stumble  and  fall. 
High  places  are  dangerous  places.  This  is  the 
lesson  of  Capernaum.  "And  thou,  Capernaum, 
shalt  thou  be  exalted  unto  heaven  ?  Thou  shalt 
go  down  unto  hades:  for  if  the  mighty  works 
had  been  done  in  Sodmn  which  were  done  in 
thee,  it  would  have  remained  until  this  day." 

O.  thou  who  art  lifted  high  on  the  pinnacle 
of  privilege,  understand  thy  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities, else  thou  shalt  he  cast  down  into  sharae 
and  defeat.  He  who  wears  a  crown  must  meet 
the    demands    of    thai     crown,    or    it    should    be 

73  Ministry  of   Warnings. 


snatched  from  his  brow.  He  who  wears  the  pur- 
ple of  royalty  must  show  himself  worthy  of  the 
royal  household,  or  expulsion  will  be  his  just 
doom.  To  know  one's  privileges,  to  recognize 
the  duties  thereby  imposed,  to  walk  worthy  of 
one's  high  vocation— this  is  to  preserve  his  hon- 
ors untarnished,  to  maintain  his  eminence  with- 
out molestation. 

But  alas !  our  very  exaltation  too  often  be- 
comes the  agent  of  our  overthrow.  Our  prosper- 
ity proves  our  curse.  Think  of  Jerusalem— "if 
thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least,  in  this 
thy  day,  the  things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace, 
but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes."  What 
a  high  place  was  that  upon  which  Jerusalem  was 
planted,  seemingly  forever !  But  she  knew  not 
the  meaning  of  "noblesse  oblige" — high  posi- 
tion demands  service.  And  so  the  great  Patriot 
sobs  over  her  coming  doom. 

'It  was  as  when  a  traveler  stands  on  some 
great  misty  mountain  top — longing  to  gaze  on 
the  magnificent  expanse  of  city,  and  plain,  and 
river,  and  the  rippling  sea — and  for  one  mo- 
ment, through  one  great  rent  of  the  enshrouding 
mist,  he  looks  on  a  fairy  vision,  bathed  in  sun- 
light and  overarched  with  iris — but  almost  be- 
fore he  has  seen  it,  the  rent  in  the  mist  is  closed 
once  more  and  ragged  and  gray  the  clouds  roll 
up,  and  he  is  alone,  and  miserable,  and  chilled 
and  disenchanted.  Even  so  was  it  with  that 
momentary  glimpse  of  the  possible  Jerusalem; 
it  was.  also,  but  a  vanishing  'might  have  been.'  " 
She  refused  to  be  warned  by  her  opportunities 
and  privileges. 

Ministry   of   Warnings.  74 


And  is  not  Kentucky  exalted  unto  heaven 
in  the  wealth  of  her  opportunities,  in  her  splen- 
did position  among  the  States  of  this  Union? 
Is  there  a  more  favored  country  in  the  world  ? 

What  a  splendid  history  is  her  heritage! 
Churches,  schools,  libraries  and  all  the  facilities 
of  culture  are  hers.  Nothing  is  wanting  to 
give  her  the  leading  place  in  the  future  history 
of  our  republic.  Immortal  names  and  deeds  are 
ever  before  her  as  inspiration  to  high  endeavor. 
In  the  language  of  one  of  Kentucky's  poets: 

Hail  to  the  Queen,  the  fairest  and  the  best 
That   ever   yet   has   reigned    in   this   wide   West, 
That  from  her  royal  mother's  mountain  bound, 
Came   through,   to   grace   and   glorify  the   ground. 
Hail   to  the   Queen  !    who   on   this  frowning  wild, 
Looked   with   her   sun-lit   eyes    until    it   smiled  ; 
Who,    in   the  darkness  of   a   land   unknown, 
Built    up    the    golden    splendor    of   her   throne. 
God   save  the   Queen  ;   who   shows  her   right  to   reign, 
By    royal    flow   of   blood    and   strength   of   brain  ; 
Who   rules   and    leads   and   keeps   her   forward   way 
Toward  the   endless   light   of  endless   day. 

But  like  Jerusalem,  she  must  know  "the 
things  which  belong  unto  her  peace"  -she  must 
be  worthy  of  her  crown— else  her  golden  throne 
will  be  "no  more  durable  barrier  against  the 
encroachments  of  misery  than  are  a  babe's  sand 
heaps  to  stay  the  mighty  march  of  the  Atlantic 
tide."  Ths  actual  Kentucky  of  to-day  reminds 
us  of  a  Queen  who  has  forgotten  her  right  to 
reign,  and  lias  cast  aside  her  crown  as  a  worth- 
less bauble.  We  have  forgotten  that  the  price 
of  true  enthronement  is  the  worship  of  the  High- 
est,  the  reverence  of  truth   and   righteousness. 

--,  Ministry   of    Warnings. 


Our  pre-eminence  otherwise  is  only  a  pageant 
with  no  enduring  foundation. 

Let  us  be  warned  by  the  history  of  States 
and  Nations  who  have  mistaken  prominence  for 
real  power.  Listen  to  the  thundering  roll  of 
prophetic  doom  concerning  Jerusalem,  beauti- 
ful for  situation"  and  once  "the  joy  of  the 
whole  earth."  "How  art  thou  fallen  from 
heaven,  0  day  star,  son  of  the  morning !  how 
art  thou  cut  down  to  the  ground,  which  didst 
lay  low  the  nations.  And  thou  saidst  in  thine 
heart:  I  will  ascend  into  heaven.  I  will  exalt 
my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God;  and  I  will  sit 
upon  the  mount  of  congregation,  in  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  world.  I  will  ascend  above  the 
heights  of  the  clouds.  I  will  be  like  the  Most 
High.  Yet  thou  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell, 
to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  pit."  Our  salva- 
tion is  in  giving  heed  to  the  warning  voices  of 
history.  Capernaum  and  Jerusalem  say  to  us : 
"Beware  of  high  privilege  that  forgets  duty. 
It  is  but  a  mockery  and  delusion."  France's 
reign  of  terror  says  to  us:  "Beware  of  great- 
ness that  has  not  its  foundation  in  goodness." 

Rome  says  to  us— the  once  crowned  mistress 
of  the  world— "beware  of  power  that  forgets 
the  All-Powerful."  Greece  says  to  us:  "Be- 
ware of  intellect  without  holiness,  beauty  with- 
out purity,  eloquence  without  conscience,  art 
without  religion,  insight  without  love.  They  are 
but  blossoms  whose  root  and  life  are  in  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  grave."  May  God  save  Ken- 
tucky from  the  doom  of  those  States  and  na- 
tions who  knew  not  their  "day  of  grace"— and 

Ministry    of    Warnings.  76 


who.  failing  to  meet  the  demands  of  their  lofty 
privileges  fall  into  the  abysmal  depths  which 
they  themselves  had  prepared.  Kentucky  can 
never  be  the  same  again. 

And  then  cometh  a  mist  and  a  weeping  rain, 
And    life    is    never   the    same    again. 

She  must  be  better  or  worse.  God  has  called 
upon  her  to  halt  and  consider.  She  has  been 
summoned  by  the  ministry  of  warnings  to  re- 
member her  dignity  and  her  duty.  She  must 
lay  aside  her  sack  cloth  and  ashes  to  put  on  the 
royal  purple  or  resign  herself  to  the  domination 
of  those  evil  forces  and  principles  which  must 
prove  her  moral  ruin.  Let  us  pray  that  a  re- 
generated Kentucky  shall  come  forth  from  this 
baptism  of  shame  and  sin.  Shall  not  our  calva- 
ry be  made  our  throne  even  as  was  true  of  Him 
who  rules  us  from  his  cross?  Our  smiting  may 
yet  prove  our  healing. 


m 


--  Ministry   of    Warnings. 


The  Imperialism  of  the  Gospel 


An  address  delivered  during  the  political  campaign  of 
1900,    when    the    battle-cry    of    one    party    was:    '•Imperialism 

the    paramount    issue." 

The  whole  fabric  of  Christianity  rests  on  the 
monarchy  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  authority  is 
sacred  and  supreme.  His  crown  fits  no  other 
brow,  nor  can  His  sceptre  be  swayed  by  another 
hand.  He  exacts  unquestioning  obedience.  If 
we  fail,  it  is  for  His  grace,  and  not  our  merit, 
to  make  good  the  deficiency.  He  accepts  no  di- 
vided allegiance;  therefore,  unconditional  sur- 
render is  the  proof  of  our  loyalty. 

His  rule  is  as  impartial  as  the  shining  of  the 
sun;  hence  there  is  no  favoritism  in  His  king- 
dom. In  His  church  no  officer  exercises  authori- 
ty save  in  His  name;  no  ordinance  exists  save 
by  His  appointment;  no  terms  of  fellowship 
are  permissible  save  with  His  approval.  His 
sway  is  autocratic,  absolute,  imperial.  There  is 
no  title  indicative  of  authority,  from  which  has 
been  eliminated  injustice,  cruelty  and  wicked- 
ness, which  may  not  be  applied  in  sober  truth 
to  the  author  of  Christianity. 

The  claims  of  Pontiff,  King,  Emperor,  Sov- 
ereign, are  insignificant  in  the  presence  of  an 
authority  which,  although  supreme,  has  brought 
only  happiness,  peace  and  blessing  to  all  who 
have  yielded  to  its  sway.  In  the  words,  acts 
trial  and  death  of  Jesus,  we  behold  everywhere 
and  always  this  imperial  dignity  and  power; 
and   Mis  very  cross  lias  become  the  throne  from 

-i,  Imperialism   of  the  Gospel. 


which  shine  forth  undimmed  the  majesty  and 
splendor  of  His  dominion. 

We  are  to  consider  to-night,  first,  the  extent 
and  character  of  our  Lord's  empire.  It  is  not 
within  the  purpose  of  this  address  to  discuss  the 
reign  of  Christ  over  worlds  of  which  we  know 
not,  and  over  beings  whose  presence  is  invisible. 
We  will  not  explore  the  meaning  of  that  won- 
derful declaration  which  comes  like  the  mighty 
music  of  the  ocean,  from  depths  which  have 
never  been  fathomed— that  declaration  which 
reads:  'For  by  Him  were  all  things  created 
that  are  in  Heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  visi- 
ble and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones  or 
dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers:  All 
things  were  created  by  Him,  and  for  Him.  And 
He  is  before  all  things,  and  by  Him  all  things 
consist,"  We  are  concerned  now  to  know  the 
character  and  extent  of  His  earthly  empire. 

He  claims  dominion  over  all  men,  and  over 
all  things  with  which  humanity  has  to  do.  A 
marked  characteristic  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  is 
its  universality.  "Go  into  all  the  world"— this 
is  the  commission  which  the  church  has  received 
from  her  Lord.  The  earthly  boundaries  of  this 
empire  of  the  Christ  are  defined  by  the  world  of 
mankind— the  domain  of  thp  human  race. 
His  sceptre  is  co-extensive  with  man's  pres- 
ence on  the  globe.  "Ask  of  me  and  I  will 
give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  posses- 
sion." The  program  of  Christianity  is  interna- 
tional, intercontinental,  and  all-inclusive  in  its 
tremendous  sweep  and  purpose. 

Imperialism   <</'  the  Gospel.  NQ 


But  not  only  does  Christ  claim  the  right  to 
rule  over  all  men,  but  over  all  things  with  which 
man  has  to  do — laws,  customs,  institutions,  gov- 
ernments, business  and  every  pursuit  and  activ- 
ity of  life.  How  else  can  Jesus  reign  over  men  ? 
His  rule  within  the  heart  of  man  must  necessa- 
rily manifest  itself  in  every  piece  and  part  of 
man's  environment.  He  can  not  govern  the  in- 
ner life  apart  from  the  outer  any  more  than  one 
can  influence  the  will  apart  from  its  acts.  The 
whole  frame-work  of  society  is,  therefore,  in- 
volved in  the  imperial  program  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Dr.  Briggs  says:  "Poverty,  vice  and  crime  are 
inconsistent  with  Christianity.  Christianity 
has  undertaken  to  remove  them  from  the  world. 
Christianity  is  inconsistent  with  the  present  so- 
cial condition  of  the  great  cities  of  the  world. 
The  Bible,  through  and  through,  insists  upon 
the  redemption  of  the  bodies  of  men,  as  well  as 
their  souls,  and  of  the  whole  framework  of  hu- 
man society."  And  so  the  regency  of  Christ 
contemplates  the  bringing  of  our  homes,  our 
politics,  our  trades— all  the  means,  agencies  and 
things  with  which  we  are  connected— under  the 
sway  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Further,  this  empire  of  Christ  means  the 
rule  of  Christ  over  the  individual,  as  contra-dis- 
tinguished from  a  sort  of  general  superintend- 
ence and  control.  The  imperialism  of  Christ 
not  only  contemplates  the  domination  of  all  men 
and  all  things,  but  it  seeks  this  control  by  domi- 
nating each  man  and  the  interests  of  each  indi- 
vidual life.  All  through  the  ages  humanity  lias 
been   influenced    through     the   individual.    The 

81  Imperialism  of  the   Gospel. 


history  of  Israel  is  the  history  of  individual 
leaders— Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses,  Isaiah. 
The  history  of  Christianity  is  but  the  record  of 
individual  history— that  of  Peter,  James,  John, 
Paul.  "The  kingdom  advances  by  individual 
conversions;  it  stands  in  individual  consecra- 
tion. Yesterday  the  kingdom  was  one  man ;  now 
it  is  a  group."  Presently  the  State,  the  nation, 
the  world,  will  be  its  territory. 

The  imperialism  of  the  Gospel  would  make 
its  dominating  spirit  still  more  exhaustive  and 
complete  by  bringing  all  of  the  individual  man 
—body,  soul  and  spirit— under  the  mastery  and 
authority  of  Jesus  Christ,— "casting  down  im- 
agination and  every  high  thing  that  exalteth  it- 
self against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing 
into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ."  No  part  of  the  individual  heart  and 
soul  can  be  left  to  its  own  government.  Every 
thought,  aspiration,  feeling,  must  be  brought 
into  captivity  to  the  will  of  Christ. 

All  men  and  all  things,  each  individual  man 
and  his  particular  interests,  and  all  of  each  man 
—this  is  the  extent  of  the  territory  covered  by 
the  imperialism  of  the  Gospel. 

You  will  observe  that  the  imperalism  of  the 
Gospel  concerns  itself  with  minds  and  hearts, 
and  all  the  affairs  and  interests  with  which  minds 
and  hearts  are  associated.  It  is  not  the  acqui- 
sition of  territory  for  the  sake  of  territory.  It 
knows  nothing  of  conquest  for  the  sake  of  ma- 
terial gain.  It  is  the  conquest  of  hearts,  and 
the  projection  of  the  new  spirit  which  comes 

Imperialism  of  the  Gospel.  S2 


from  this  conquest  into  the  management  and 
control  of  all  material  things  and  concerns. 

Hence  there  can  be  no  force  in  extending  the 
imperialistic  sway  of  the  gospel.  Krupp  guns 
can  kill  bodies;  they  cannot  affect  souls.  You 
cannot  shoot  the  gospel  into  an  individual  or  a 
people.  It  must  enter  human  lives  as  music,  as 
sunshine,  as  the  breath  of  flowers.  Material 
force  can  level  cities  or  desolate  a  populous 
country;  it  cannot  make  one  life  more  subject 
to  the  mind  of  the  Master. 

Always,  and  necessarily,  in  the  extension  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  there  must  be  the  consent  of 
the  governed.  He  will  not  enter  until  admitted. 
He  will  not  accept  grudging  hospitality.  His 
message  is,  "If  any  man  will  open  the  door  of 
his  heart  I  Avill  come  in  and  sup  with  him."  If 
there  be  not  the  consent  of  the  governed  then 
the  governor  becomes  an  arbitrary  sovereign. 
Jesus  will  have  no  sway  that  does  not  come  with 
the  soul's  full  consent  and  permission. 

The  price  our  Lord  pays  for  sovereignty  is 
the  sacrifice  of  Himself  for  the  benefit  of  those 
over  whom  He  seeks  to  rule.  Christianity  does 
not  countenance  the  sacrifice  of  human  life  for 
the  sake  of  material  gain.  In  the  light  of  our 
Lord's  example,  it  approves  and  honors  the 
sacrifice  of  life  for  the  uplifting  of  those  whose 
condition  makes  necessary  the  sacrifice.  It  is 
Christ-like  for  men  to  die  that  Cuba  may  be 
free;  it  is  commercial  cruelty  to  sacrifice  one  life 
for  all  1  lie  dollars  of  the  world.  Jesus  pays  the 
price  of  His  own  blood,  that  He  may  reign  over 
men's  hearts    and  lives  for  their  own  good,  and 

v:i  Imperialism  of  the  Gospel. 


with  their  consent.  If  this  be  our  aim  in  deal- 
ing with  our  new  national  charges  we  prove  our- 
selves a  Christian  nation;  otherwise  we  are  but 
"robber  barons"  who  have  thrown  off  the  yoke 
of  divine  authority. 

Let  us  next  consider  the  basis  of  this  sover- 
eignty claimed  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  will  not 
wear  the  purple  without  justifying  its  assump- 
tion. He  will  not  occupy  the  throne  without 
making  good  his  right.  He  will  not  be  consid- 
ered either  a  usurper  or  pretender.  What  then 
are  the  grounds  on  which  He  rests  His  primacy? 

His  testimony  to  the  truth:  "To  this  end  I 
was  born  and  for  this  purpose  came  I  into  the 
world,  that  I  might  bear  witness  to  the  truth." 
The  truth-bringer  always  speaks  with  author- 
ity. Truth  is  its  own  justification.  There  is  no 
power  higher  than  itself,  and  hence  no  source 
from  which  it  can  receive  a  commission.  Jesus 
claimed  to  speak  the  truth,  and  to  live  the  truth, 
and,  therefore,  claimed  sovereignty  over  human 
life  to  the  extent  that  this  claim  was  vindicated. 
There  is  no  escape  from  the  power  and  authority 
of  truth  except  in  submission.  You  may  kill 
the  man  who  brings  the  message,  but  truth  will 
stand  unharmed,  as  it  says:  "I  am  your  mas- 
ter, and  me  you  cannot  overthrow. ' ' 

The  claim  of  Jesus  to  be  King  by  virtue  of 
His  testimony  to  the  truth,  was  and  is  supported 
by  the  confirmation  of  the  human  soul.  We  are 
so  constituted  that  we  can  but  recognize  the  truth 
when  we  hear  it.  It  may  anger  us ;  it  may  arouse 
our  violence;  it  may  lead  us  to  crucify  the  truth- 
bearer— but  all  this  is  but  proof  that  the  soul  has 

Imperialism   of  the  Gospel.  84 


recognized  the  truth  which  has  been  spoken,  al- 
though rejecting  the  truth's  rightful  supremacy. 

This  is  the  power  of  the  reformer— the  re- 
cognition on  the  part  of  the  souls  of  men,  of  the 
truth  he  brings.  He  may  be  killed,  but  the  very 
act  is  proof  of  the  power  of  the  truth  over  his 
murderers.  "Jesus  and  His  disciples  were  out- 
lawed. John  the  Baptist  who  prepared  their 
way  was  beheaded  in  the  interests  of  official 
peace.  Paul,  that  daring  spiritual  adventurer, 
was  loosed  from  prison,  to  be  led  to  his  execu- 
tion. St.  Francis  died  of  a  broken  heart,  Sa- 
vonarola was  both  hung  and  burned  after  fear- 
ful agonies  of  torture.  The  Protestant  reform- 
ers were  the  hunted  and  hated  heretics  of  their 
day.  AVesley,  Edwards  and  Finney  were  driven 
from  their  churches.  Mazzini  and  his  friends 
were  vagabonds  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  What 
does  all  this  mean,  but  that  the  truth  was  recog- 
nized, and  its  right  to  supremacy  was  sought  to 
be  challenged  by  the  persecution  and  death  of 
its  advocates?  Jesus  virtually  said:  "My 
imperialism  is  that  of  truth.  You  know  it  to  be 
the  truth.  You  may  kill  me,  but  that  is  only  an 
admission  of  my  mastery." 

Furthermore,  our  Lord's  sovereignty  is  bas- 
ed on  His  self-sacrificing  service.  He  claims 
over  the  lives  of  men  the  authority  of  love :  ' '  He 
who  would  be  chief  among  you;  let  him  be  ser- 
vant of  all."  The  chieftaincy  of  the  Christ  rests 
•  Hi  tins  ground — the  most  unselfish  ministry  of 
which  the  world  knows,  reaching  its  sublime 
consummation  in   His  (hath  on  the  cross.      Do 

v.",  Imp.  ri'ilism   of   the   Gospel. 


you  ask  by  what  right  He  wears  the  crown?  His 
answer  is:  "Behold  the  print  of  the  nails  in 
my  hands,  and  the  scars  made  by  the  thorn- 
crown  on  my  brow. ' '  Herein  is  found  the  secret 
of  the  imperial  sway  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Some  one  said  to  Richelieu:  "I  could  estab- 
lish as  good  a  religion  as  Jesus  Christ,  if  I  could 
only  get  a  start  in  the  work.  How  shall  I  get  a 
start?"  "I  will  advise  you,"  said  Richelieu, 
"to  become  such  a  reformer,  such  a  leader  of 
the  race,  in  truth,  that  the  race  will  crucify  you 
inside  of  three  years — and  then  show  such  di- 
vine power  as  to  rise  from  the  grave  in  three 
days."  It  is  He  with  the  "dyed  garments," 
who  comes  to  humanity,  "glorious  in  His  ap- 
parel, traveling  in  the  greatness  of  His 
strength."  Suffering  love  is  the  basis  of  our 
Lord's  supremacy,  for  this  suffering  love  is  but 
the  full  flower  of  His  divine  character. 

It  may  be  said,  still  further,  that  the  imperi- 
alism of  Christ  rests  upon  necessity.  The  highest 
in  the  nature  of  the  case  must  rule.  In  all  other 
kingships,  lordships,  we  find  limitations.  In 
the  Christ  alone  we  find  ability  adequate  to 
achieve  all  that  His  sovereignty  represents.  All 
human  authority  is  a  broken  reed.  It  can  go  so 
far,  and  then  fails.  The  authority  of  Christ  ex- 
tends over  all  life,  and  all  those  interests  which 
concern  our  happiness  in  both  time  and  eter- 
nity. 

What  an  empire  is  that  of  the  Christ !  It 
has  no  geographical  boundaries.  It  is  like  the 
Gulf  stream,  of  which  it  has  been  said:  "The 
grandest  river  in  the  world  has  no  banks ;   it 

Imperialism   of  the   Gospel.  X(i 


rises  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  it  sweeps  up  through 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  along  our  coast;  it  crosses 
the  Atlantic,  and  spreads  out  in  great,  broad, 
fan-like  form  along  the  coast  of  Europe;  and 
whatever  land  it  kisses,  blooms  and  blossoms 
with  the  fruit  of  its  love. ' ' 

Wherever  it  is  welcome,  this  empire  makes 
its  way.  It  will  not  establish  its  throne  upon 
any  hostile  soil;  overcoming,  first,  hostility  with 
love.  It  relies  on  the  character  and  truth  of  its 
founder  for  its  victories— that  character  and 
truth  reproduced  in  the  life  of  its  subjects,  and 
proclaimed  as  an  evangel  to  all  the  world. 
"The  mile-stones  of  its  onward  march  down  the 
ages  have  not  been  monuments  of  material  pow- 
er, but  the  blackened  stakes  of  martyrs,  trophies 
of  individual  fidelity  to  conviction." 

It  pauses  not  in  its  aggressive  movement- 
one  province  of  wrong  conquered,  its  pioneers 
are  already  in  the  heart  of  another— and  yet 
there  is  heard  no  tramp  of  armed  men,  or  thun- 
der of  artillery.  Upon  those  who  refuse  its  sway, 
no  penalty  is  inflicted  other  than  that  which  the 
mind  must  pay  when  it  refuses  knowledge,  or 
the  heart  when  it  refuses  love,  or  the  flower 
when  it  refuses  the  kisses  of  the  sun.  Although 
the  subjects  of  this  empire  have  never  seen  the 
face  of  their  Emperor,  they  feel  His  presence; 
they  hear  in  the  quiet  sanctuary  of  the  soul  the 
music  of  His  voice ;  they  respond  to  His  com- 
tnands  as  soldiers  to  the  blast  of  bugle,  or  the 
roll  of  drum ;  they  are  sustained  by  His  spirit, 
and  count  it  joy  to  die  in  His  service. 

87  Imperialism  of  the   Gospel. 


To  tell  of  the  conquering  progress  of  this 
Empire,  would  be  to  recite  the  most  glorious 
pages  in  the  history  of  eighteen  centuries.  These 
pages  are  more  thrilling  than  romance,  more  in- 
spiring than  the  inventions  and  discoveries  of 
material  science.  The  imperial  Christ,  as  He 
moves  across  the  ages,  lays  under  tribute  for  the 
accomplishment  of  His  mighty  purpose,  all 
thrones,  all  forms  of  government,  all  sovereigns 
and  sovereignties.  Monarchy  and  Republic  are 
alike  but  the  agents  of  that  imperial  will  to 
which  at  last— however  distant  the  day — "every 
knee  shall  bow." 

In  the  flag  of  this  empire,  I  behold  every 
color  which  represents  love,  liberty  and  frater- 
nity; every  hue  which  tells  of  the  fulfilment  of 
true  human  longings  and  ideals  in  all  the  past 
history  of  mankind;  every  figure  and  emblem 
which  may  speak  to  man  of  progress  by  way  of 
Gethsemanes  and  Calvaries ;  every  mark  on  every 
standard  which  has  stood  for  God,  duty  and 
noble  destiny.  It  is  a  composite  flag ;  all  the  na- 
tions shall  find  their  own  highest  life  and  ideals 
written  upon  its  folds— and  adopt  it  as  the  one, 
only  universal  banner  of  the  hosts  of  righteous- 
ness. 

Fling   out   the   banner — let    it   float 

Skyward    and    seaward,    high    and    wide 

The  Sun  that  lights  its  shining  folds — 
The    cross   on   which   the    Savior   died. 

Fling  out  the  banner— wide  and  high, 
Seaward    and    skyward,    let   it    shine ; 

Nor  skill,  nor  might,  nor  merit  ours  ; 
We  conquer  only  in  that  sign. 


Imperialism   of  the   Gospel.  88 


Early  Ideals  of  the  Republic* 


This  address  was  one  of  a  series  of  addresses,  and  later 
was  reduced  to  the  limitations  of  a  newspaper  article,  and 
as   such,    is   printed    in   this   book   of   addresses. 

It  is  well  to  call  to  mind  the  former  days  of 
our  nation,  lest  we  forget  the  eternal  and  di- 
vine principles  upon  which  has  been  builded  the 
fairest  and  strongest  government  this  world  has 
ever  known.  Of  what  were  those  men  thinking 
who  gave  to  us  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence and  the  Federal  Constitution?  What  were 
the  hopes  and  dreams  and  aspirations  of  those 
mighty  souls  of  an  elder  time?  "What  is  the 
meaning  of  Bunker  Hill  monument,  which  as 
in  Webster's  time,  still  "meets  the  sun  in  his 
coming,"  and  on  whose  "summit  parting  day 
yet  lingers  and  plays"?  It  is  worth  our  while 
in  these  days  of  party  strife  and  political  wrang- 
ling to  read  anew  the  mighty  history  of  our  be- 
ginnings, that  the  fires  of  patriotism  may  be 
kindled  anew. 

Thinking   of   the   mighty    dead, 

The  young  from  slothful   couch  will  start, 

And  vow,  with  lifted  hands  outspread. 
Like    them,    to    act    a    noble    part. 

It  is  within  the  province  of  the  statesman 
and  political  philosopher  to  discuss  the  ideals  in- 
volved in  the  structure  of  our  government— to 
analyze  the  Constitution  and  show  forth  the  hid- 
den wisdom  and  strength  of  this  "Magna  Char- 
ta"  of  our  liberties.  "Only  Ulysses  can  wield  the 
bow  of  Ulysses."     Mine  is  the  humbler  task  of 

s;i  Early  Ideals  of  the  Republic. 


pointing  yon  to  familiar  ideals,  the  glory  of 
which  we  are  in  clanger  of  losing,  because  we 
have  so  long  been  accustomed  to  their  shining 
faces. 

In  reading  the  literature  of  the  early  days 
of  the  Republic,  especially  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  the  innate  dignity  of  man  is  a 
fundamental  thought;  and  indeed,  is  the  expla- 
nation of  our  whole  system  of  government. 
Whatever  would  bring  honor  and  opportunity 
to  man  as  man — whatever  would  develop  his 
God- given  possibilities  in  so  far  as  these  powers 
and  possibilities  might  be  affected  by  govern- 
ment— that  was  the  goal  toward  which  the  Re- 
public eagerly  pressed.  It  would  seem  that  in 
the  providence  of  God,  America  was  born  to 
teach  the  world  in  the  very  structure  of  her  gov- 
ernment— the  basic  principles  upon  which  it 
rests — the  sacredness  of  humanity.  It  remained 
for  America  to  declare  that  government  exists 
for  the  benefit  of  the  governed,  not  for  the  benefit 
of  one  man  called  king,  but  for  the  benefit  of  all 
men — those  who  are  kings  by  virtue  of  the 
anointing  of  the  Almighty  in  their  creation.  It 
has  been  said  with  great  truth  :  ■ '  The  develop- 
ment of  the  modern  world  is  toward  all  men  and 
not  toward  one  man.  To  build  up  the  marvels 
of  antiquity  the  few  led,  the  many  followed; 
the  few  ruled,  the  many  were  driven.  The  toil- 
er was  not  considered.  He  was  a  beast  of  bur- 
den. He  had  no  voice  in  affairs.  He  was  built 
into  the  walls  of  cities ;  his  blood  outlined  the 
boundaries  of  nations;  his  labor  wrought  the 
luxury  of  kings ;  but  himself  had  no  civic  ex- 
Early  Ideals  of  the  Republic.  90 


istence."  The  Republic  on  the  other  hand, 
-crowns  man  as  man,  giving  to  him  the  honor, 
dominion  and  power  which  are  his  by  virtue 
of  the  nature  with  which  God  has  endowed  him. 
This,  to  my  mind,  is  the  supreme  distinction  of 
America — the  enthronement  of  man.  This  has 
given  to  America  the  supreme  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  nations. 

"We  have  not  improved  upon  the  past  to  any 
■■considerable  extent  in  any  other  particular  of 
government.  "In  the  stability  of  her  institu- 
tions, China  has  not  been  surpassed ;  in  the  skill 
of  her  mechanics,  Egypt  has  not  been  reached. 
Modern  imagination  reconstructs  an  unparal- 
leled splendor  from  the  ruins  of  Assyria.  Nine- 
teen centuries  have  not  added  to  the  grace  of  the 
Greek  column  or  to  the  strength  of  the  Roman 
arch.  Xo  proverb  has  supplanted  the  patience 
of  Job  or  the  wisdom  of  Solomon.  No  poet  has 
plucked  from  Homer  his  laurels.  No  brush  has 
stolen  a  tint  from  the  fame  of  Apelles.  No 
chisel  has  chased  a  line  of  loveliness  from  Phi- 
dias. Moses  and  Solon  have  never  been  surpass- 
ed in  statesmanship,  or  Alexander  in  military 
science,  or  Plato  in  philosophy,  or  Cicero  in  elo- 
quence." But  America  has  done  something  of 
which  the  ancients  had  never  thought,  and  which 
no  modern  nation,  other  than  herself,  has  fully 
recognized  and  honored — she  has  "proclaimed 
to  mankind  the  inalienable  rights  of  human 
nature"  and  made  these  rights  "the  only  law- 
fid  foundations  of  government."  She  has 
taught  that  institutions  exist  for  the  benefit  of 
man.  not  man  for  the  benefit  of  institutions — 

'.)!  Early   Ideals  of  the  Republic. 


that  man,  in  himself,  is  greater  than  his  works,, 
and,  therefore,  that  government,  which  is  his 
creation,  must  ever  remain  his  servant.  _She 
has  "brought  the  achievements  of  the  highest 
clown  to  the  service  of  the  lowest,  and  thus  the 
impress  of  value  is  stamped  upon  the  individual 
human  being."  Art,  science,  literature,  govern- 
ment, religion,  all  are  for  the  benefit  of  man 
and,  Avhen  made  to  exist  for  themselves,  can  no 
longer  justify  their  existence.  Government  for 
government's  sake  is  as  false  as  art  for  art's 
sake.  All  is  for  man,  and  that  in  order  to  his 
highest  development  as  a  creature  of  God  made 
in  the  divine  image. 

In  the  light  of  this  great  truth— the  innate- 
dignity  of  man— consider  the  great  underlying 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
There  is  no  grander  document  in  literature.  All 
honor  to  those  brave  men  who  imperilled  life 
and  fortune  for  the  sake  of  humanity  and  yet 
who,  in  signing  their  names  to  this  paper,  wrote 
them  in  letters  that  shall  last  as  long  as  "time 
has  its  cycles  or  the  ocean  rolls  its  waves."  Im- 
mortal words  are  these:  "And  for  the  support 
of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the 
protection  of  divine  Providence,  we  mutually 
pledge  to  each  other,  our  lives,  our  fortunes  and 
our  sacred  honor." 

In  the  first  place,  this  Declaration  is  abso- 
lutely unique  in  recognizing  the  inherent  and 
inalienable  rights  of  man— rights  with  which 
men  have  been  "endowed  by  their  creator."" 
The  "Magna  Charta"  demands  rights  which 
government  can  grant ;  the  Declaration  demands 

Early  Ideals  of  the  Republic.  <!2 


the  recognition  of  rights  conferred  on  man  in 
his  creation  — rights  which,  therefore,  cannot  be 
taken  away  by  government  without  robbing  him 
of  his  nature.  And  it  is  this  truth  which  makes 
any  tyranny  monstrous.  To  deny  office  to  citizens 
would  not  be  tyranny,  for  no  man  has  an  in- 
herent right  to  an  office,  but  to  deny  him  "life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness"  is  to  in- 
trench upon  the  nature  with  which  God  has 
created  him.  It  is  to  oppose  and  to  seek  to  over- 
throw the  plain  purpose  of  God  concerning  man, 
as  that  purpose  is  made  evident  in  the  very  be- 
ing and  constitution  of  man.  The  Declaration 
virtually  says:  "We  speak  in  behalf  of  the  nat- 
ural rights  of  man.  They  are  from  God— not 
bestowed  by  any  king,  and,  therefore,  not  to  be 
interfered  with  by  any  government  on  this  earth. 
We  demand  that  these  God-given  rights  shall  be 
respected,  and  for  their  maintenance  we  are  will- 
ing to  sacrifice  all  our  earthly  possessions,  and 
our  lives,  if  need  be. ' '  Here  was  a  collossal  stride 
in  the  onward  march  of  humanity.  It  was  a 
proclamation  of  man's  inherent  dignity. 

To  guard  these  rights,  to  preserve  them  in- 
violate, is  the  purpose  of  government,  or,  in  the 
words  of  the  Declaration,  "to  secure  these  rights, 
governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned." This  Republic,  therefore,  was  not  in- 
stituted as  an  office-dispensing  society,  or  for  the 
preservation  and  perpetuation  of  one  or  many 
political  parties;  it  did  not  come  through  a 
stormy  revolution,  in  order  to  illustrate  the  work- 
ing of  a  piece  of  political  machinery  different  in 

(,:;  Early   Ideals   of  the   Republic. 


structure  from  any  other  political  machinery 
of  which  the  world  had  any  knowledge.  In- 
finitely higher  and  deeper  was  the  aim— viz:, 
the  defense  of  the  citadel  of  man-soul,  the  pro- 
tection of  man  himself  against  any  government 
— monarchical,  republican,  or  what  not— which; 
did  not  recognize  the  inextinguishable  and  eter- 
nal rights  of  human  nature  as  created  by  God. 

Second.  Another  proposition  in  this  Decla- 
ration is  fundamental,  and  must  ever  serve  as 
the  ideal  toward  which  the  Republic  must  press 
forward.  "All  men  are  created  equal."  This 
truth,  it  seems  to  me,  grows  out  of  the  inaliena- 
ble rights  of  man.  Each  man  has  these  rights, andr 
therefore,  in  this  particular,  stands  on  an  equal- 
ity with  every  other  man.  It  would  be  ridiculous 
to  imagine  that  the  framers  of  this  Declaration 
meant  that  in  capacity,  in  mental  endowments, 
in  intellectual  and  spiritual  equipment,  all  men 
are  created  equal.  There  never  was  a  time  when 
Shakespeare  and  the  stableboy  Avere  on  a  level. 
God  made  Shakespeare  to  soar  and  sing,  and 
another  to  plow  and  dig.  But  in  respect  of  in- 
herent rights,  every  man  stands  equal  before 
the  law.  In  this  realm  there  must  be  no  favor- 
itism. Any  law  that  seeks  to  protect  one  at  the- 
expense  of  another,  that  aims  to  give  opportuni- 
ties to  one  for  self-advancement  not  offered  unto 
all,  that  seeks  to  provide  happiness  for  a  class 
and  not  for  the-  mass,  that  creates  a  realm  of 
privilege  for  a  favored  few,  while  excluding 
therefrom  the  many,  is  antagonistic  to  this  great 
doctrine  of  equality. 

In  this  day  of  vast  combinations  of  capital, 

Early  Ideals   of  the  Republic.  94 


authorized  by  law,  we  need  to  consider  this  doe- 
trine  of  the  fathers— equality  before  the  law. 
The  law  must  be  impartial,  giving  to  every  man, 
so  far  as  its  provisions  are  concerned,  equal 
privileges,  equal  opportunities,  equal  respect. 
It  is  in  the  use  of  these  equal  provisions  that 
one  man,  because  of  his  superior  endowments, 
surpasses  another,  and  thus  brings  about  varie- 
ty of  fortune  and  conditions,  but  the  law  itself, 
like  Providence,  must  send  its  rain  on  the  just 
and  the  unjust,  and  make  its  sun  to  shine  on  the 
good  and  the  evil.  Some  will  win  through  the 
chance  given  them  under  the  law ;  others  will  fail, 
but  in  no  case  must  the  law  discriminate  in  its 
provisions.  All  men  are  recognized  as  equal.  There 
never  was  a  time  when  we  needed  so  much  to 
honor  this  principle,  for  it  is  the  very  heart  of 
a  republican  form  of  government,  The  republic 
can  give  us  just  laws:  it  is  not  expected  to  fur- 
nish capacity  and  brains.  It  can  provide  equal 
opportunity;  it  cannot  insure  equal  success. 
It  honors  the  inherent  rights  of  man  in  doing 
the  one;  it  is  impossible  to  do  the  other. 

Third.  The  right  of  liberty  is  another  ear- 
ly ideal  of  the  republic.  Here  again,  more  must 
not  be  put  in  the  word  than  the  nature  and  pur- 
pose of  government  involve  and  include.  There 
is,  too,  a  liberty  which  no  government  can  confer, 
the  liberty  of  righteousness,  which  comes  about 
through  Christ,  who  sets  the  soul  free  from  the 
power  and  dominion  of  evil.  This  liberty  must 
be  wrought  out  by  the  individual  under  the 
guidance  of  him  who  said:  "Ye  shall  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  But 

'.■.")  Early  Ideals  of  the  RcpuhUc. 


the  just  government  will  provide  that  environ- 
ment of  law  and  political  condition  which  makes 
it  possible  for  the  individual  man,  without  mo- 
lestation, to  develop  himself  to  the  highest  de- 
gree. He  must  have  liberty  to  think,  and  hence 
government  must  permit  no  censorship  or  in- 
quisition. He  must  have  liberty  of  religion,  and 
hence  there  can  be  no  discrimination  against 
any  religion  that  shows  itself  to  be  a  religion 
within  the  definition  of  the  term.  He  must  have 
liberty  of  person  within  the  limitations  of  pro- 
tection to  the  community  and  hence,  foreign 
or  home  oppression  must  be  resented.  Liberty, 
within  the  scope  of  the  great  truth— "the  great- 
est good  to  the  greatest  number."  Priceless 
blessing,  indeed !  Our  fathers  appreciated  it  be- 
cause they  themselves  had  fought  for  it,  and  not, 
as  we,  received  it  as  a  legacy.  They  had  spill- 
ed the  first  blood  which  reddened  the  fields  of 
Lexington. 

But  we  are,  as  yet,  far  from  the  attainment 
of  the  ideal.  As  yet  we  have  only  entered  upon 
the  possession  of  the  land ;  we  have  not  culti- 
vated the  territory.  Says  another:  "We  abol- 
ish the  despotism  of  imperialism  and  there  comes 
in  its  place  the  despotism  of  the  mob  in  the 
French  revolution ;  worse  than  the  despotism  of 
the  Bourbon  monarchy,  except  that  it  was 
shorter.  We  abolish  monarchy,  we  abolish 
bureaucracy,  and  presently  there  springs 
up  on  American  soil  the  machine  and 
the  boss  to  control  the  primaries  and  man- 
age the  elections,  to  put  the  ballots  in  our 
hands  and  tell  us  how  we  shall  vote  and  rule  us 

Early  Ideals  of  the  Republic.  96 


through  our  suffrages.  We  abolish  slavery  and 
there  springs  up  feudalism  in  its  place,  the  land 
owned  by  a  few  and  the  many  having  to  work 
upon  the  land  as  serfs.  We  abolish  feudalism 
and  there  springs  up  in  its  place  a  capitalistic 
system  in  which  all  the  tools  and  implements 
are  owned  by  the  few  and  the  many  can  work- 
only  with  the  consent  of  the  owners.''  It  is  a 
pathetic  progress.  We  can  only  hope  that  man 
shall  one  day  enter  fully  upon  his  inheritance. 

'Tis    weary    watching    wave    on    wave, 
And    yet    the   tide    heaves    onward. 

Fourth.  Finally,  among  the  inalienable 
rights,  is  religion,  and  so  recognized  in  this 
Declaration.  Man  is  entitled  to  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,  because  they  are  his 
by  gift  of  the  Creator.  In  making  a  plea  for  in- 
alienable rights,  therefore,  religion  is  necessa- 
rily involved.  It  is  universally  admitted  that 
man  is  a  religions  animal,  and  consequently  he 
must  be  permitted  to  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience.  Nothing  is 
more  noticeable  than  the  constant  recognition 
of  (iod  in  the  writings  and  speeches  of  those  who 
gave  us  the  Declaration  and  the  Constitution. 

I  have  indicated  the  foundation  stones  of  the 
republic — the  inalienable  rights  of  man,  equal- 
ity before  the  law.  liberty  and  religion.  In  keep- 
i I]'-!'  them  before  us  lies  our  safety.  If  we  honor 
them  in  thought  and  life,  what  a  fortune  is  be- 
fore this  country!  Oh  for  the  patriotism  bora  of 
love  I'm-  these  everlasting  and  underlying  prin- 
ciples ' 

'.ty  Early   Tdeals   of  the   Republic. 


Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic* 

(an    interpretation.) 

The   outline   of   an   address  delivered   at   the  time   of  the 
declaration    of    the    Spanish-American    war. 


Mine   eyes   have   seen    the   glory   of  the   coming   of   the   Lord; 
He   is  trampling  out   the   vintage  where  the   grapes   of   wrath 

are    stored  : 
Hi     has    loosed    the    fateful    lightning    of    his    terrible,    swift 

sword — 

His    truth    is    marching    on. 

I    have    seen    Him    in    the    watchflree    of    a    hundred    circling 

camps  ; 
They    have    builded    him    an    altar    in    the    evening    dews    and 

damps  : 
I    can    read    His    righteous    sentence    by    the    dim    and    flaring 

lamp 

His     daj      is     inarching     on. 

I   have  read  a  fiery  gospel  writ   in  burnished  rows  of  steel, 
ye  deal  with  my  contemners,  so  with  you  my  grace  shall 
d<    i!  ;" 
Lei    the  hero  born   of  woman   crush  the  serpent  with  his   heel, 
Sine    God    is    marching    on. 

Ih     has   sounded    forth    the   trumpet   that    shall    never    call    re 

1 1 1  at  : 
lb    is  sitting  out   the  hearts  of  men  before  his  judgment  scat. 
c  I'  '    be  swift,   my  soul,   to  answer   him!   Be  jubilant,  my  feet! 
Our  God   is  marching  on. 

In    the    beauty   of   the   lilies   Christ   was   born    across   the   sea, 
Willi    a   glory    in    His   bosom   that   transfigures   you    and   me, 
In    died   to   make   men   holy,   let  us  die  to  mal<e  men    free 
While   God    is   marching   on. 

The  die  is  cast,  the  issue  is  clearly  defined. 
!i  is  humanity  againsl  cruelty;  it  is  Liberty 
againsl  oppression.  If  ever  there  was  ;i  right- 
eous war,  we  are  now  entering  upon  it.  IT  ever 
ilc  sword  should  be  unsheathed  this  is  the  time ; 
iliis.  the  very  hour. 

r.,iiih    ii mi, n    ,,f   ih,    Republic. 


I  have  chosen  the  famous  "Battle  Hymn  of 
the  Republic"  as  expressing  the  spirit  of  a 
Christian  nation  in  waging  a  war  of  conscience 
and  conviction.  The  solemn  tread  of  its  majes- 
tic lines  may  well  quicken  the  pulse  of  every 
patriot.  It  is  fit  music  to  stir  the  slumbering  en- 
ergies of  the  indifferent.  Its  solemn  tones— 
deep  as  the  bass  of  the  ocean  and  religious  as  the 
prayer  of  saint  — give  forth  no  uncertain  call  to 
the  Christian  manhood  of  America.  The  hymn 
is  permeated  with  scripture  teaching  and  needs 
no  text  to  emphasize  its  summons  to  service  and 
to  death— if  so  costly  a  sacrifice  should  be  de- 
manded. It  is  a  classic  in  literature.  It  was 
struck  off-  when  the  soul  was  at  white  heat,  and 
its  mighty  force  will  not  be  abated  until  every 
fetter  has  been  broken  and  God  and  truth  shall 
be  supreme  over  human  life.  The  particular 
occasion  that  called  it  forth  has  passed,  but  its 
ringing  music  abides  and  the  principles  it  enun- 
ciates have  in  them  the  potency  of  irresistible 
and  unconquerable  righteousness. 

It  is  my  wish  and  purpose  to  point  out  some 
of  the  truths  that  lie  on  the  surface  of  this  mar- 
tial and  magnificent  production.  First,  the 
vision  of  faith. 

"Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory  of  the  com- 
ing of  the  Lord."  Faith  transcends  the  ut- 
most reach  of  sight,  even  when  sight  is  aided  by 
the  most  magnificent  telescope  of  human  inven- 
tion. Faith  gazes  on  a  glory  that  outshines  the 
sun  or  the  stars— the  glory  of  the  Lord,  mani- 
fested in  the  overthrow  of  wrong,  in  the  vindi- 
cation of  right,  in  the  progress  of  truth,  in  the 

lUiiilr   Hiimn    of  the  Republic.  100 


advance  of  righteousness.  The  '"coming  of  the 
Lord"  may  be  thought  of  as  a  personal  manifes- 
tation. Viewed  from  this  standpoint,  we  are 
watching  and  waiting  "for  the  sounding  of  His 
footfall  this  side  the  golden  gate."  Or  His 
coming  may  be  thought  of  as  a  judgement.  His 
coming,  then,  is  as  one  "whose  fan  is  in  his 
hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor  and 
gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner;  but  he  will 
burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire."  It 
was  so  that  He  came  to  Jerusalem.  "There  be 
some  standing  here,"  the  Christ  said  to  his  con- 
temporaries, "who  shall  not  taste  of  death  until 
they  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  his  glory."  It 
was  no  far-off  coming  of  which  He  spoke,  for  they 
were  to  be  witnesses.  They  saw  his  coming 
when  they  looked  upon  the  Roman  eagles  of  Ti- 
tus and  heard  the  tread  of  doom  in  the  thunder- 
ing legions  of  his  conquering  army.  And  still 
again.  His  coming  may  be  thought  of  as  the 
gradual  spread  of  His  spirit  and  life  in  the 
world.  In  this  sense  our  Lord  is  ever  coming — 
even  as  the  sun  slowly  mounting  to  the  zenith  — 
advancing  higher  and  higher  until  high  noon 
proclaims  his  supremacy. 

I  believe  that  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  upon 
whose  glory  we  shall  look  at  this  time,  is  His 
coming  in  judgment-  in  the  overthrow  of  op- 
pression, in  the  punishment  of  inhumanity,  in 
the  vindication  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  man 
to  liberty,  and   the   pursuit  of  happiness. 

It  is  this  coming  whose  far-shining  shall  be 
seen  by  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

It    is   our  high    privilege   to   look    upon    this 

]nl  Battle   Hymn    of   the    Republic 


coming — to  behold  His  glory  as  "He  looses  the 
fateful  lightning'  of  His  terrible,  swift  sword" 
— to  gaze  with  awe  and  submission  upon  the  di- 
vine presence  as  He  marches  on  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  His  purposes. 

As  the  poet  sees  God  in  the  bursting  bloom 
of  spring,  as  the  philosopher  sees  God  in  the 
laws  which  govern  the  universe,  so  we  may  say 
— believing  our  cause  to  be  just — 

I    have    seen    him    in    the    watch-fires    of    a    hundred    circling 

camps  ; 
They    have    builded    Him    an    altai     in    the    evening    dews    and 

damps, 
I    can    read    His    righteous    sentence    by    the    dim    and    flaring 

lamps, 

His    day    is    marching    on. 

But  with  this  coming  in  judgment,  will  be 
His  fuller  and  more  glorious  coming  into  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  men.  "This  fiery  gospel 
writ  in  burnished  rows  of  steel,"  says  to  all 
lands  and  the  inhabitants  thereof— "you  shall 
not  oppress  wantonly  your  fellowmen.  You 
shall  not  starve  innocent  women  and  children 
for  the  sake  of  territory.  You  shall  not  enslave 
men  who  want  to  be  free  and  who  have  caught 
the  vision  of  a  better  day." 

1  can  but  think  that  this  message  will  ad- 
vance by  many  leagues  the  onward  march  of  the 
victorious  Christ,-  It  means  his  fuller  coming 
in  the  life  of  humanity. 

Another  thought  in  this  battle  hymn  is  tin- 
vitality  of  truth  and  the  livingness  of  God. 
Truth  is  marching.  It  is  not  dead  or  imprisoned. 
God  is  living.     Nations,  as  well  as  individuals. 

Baltic  Hymn  of  the  Republic,  102 


sometimes  imagine  that  God  is  dead,  or  asleep. 
or  gone  on  a  long  journey. 

' '  If  thou  seest  the  oppression  of  the  poor  and 
violent  perverting  of  justice  and  judgment  in 
a  province,  marvel  not  at  the  matter,  for  he  that 
is  higher  than  the  highest  regardeth:  and  there 
he  higher  than  they."  God  regardeth.  He  heard 
the  voice  of  His  people  in  Egypt  and  sent  Moses 
to  deliver.  He  has  heard  the  cry  of  the  distress- 
ed—not once  or  twice,  and  has  come  to  their  res- 
cue.    God  is  living  and  is  marching  on. 

"Do  not  those  revolutions  which  hurl  kings 
from  their  thrones  and  precipitate  whole  na- 
tions to  the  dust — do  not  those  widespread  ruins 
which  the  traveler  meets  with  among  the  sands 
of  the  desert:  do  not  those  majestic  relics  which 
the  field  of  humanity  presents  to  our  view — do 
they  not  all  declare  aloud  a  God  in  history? 
Gibbon,  seated  among  the  ruins  of  the  capitol 
and  contemplating  its  august  remains,  owned 
the  intervention  of  a  superior  destiny.  He  saw 
it.  he  felt  it;  in  vain  would  he  avert  His  eyes. 
Thai  shadow  of  a  mysterious  power  started  from 
behind  every  broken  pillar."  T  can  hear  the 
mighty  tread  of  God  in  the  gathering  of  our 
troops  and  in  the  assembling  of  our  ships.  "He 
is  trampling  out  the  vintage  where  the  grapes  of 
wrath  arc  stored.*'  God  is  living:  God  regard- 
eth: <  rod  is  marching  on. 

'■'>.  Every  time  of  trial  is  a  day  of  judg- 
ment, 'lie  is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men 
before  His  judgmenl  seat."  As  a  nation,  we 
have  been  weighed  in  the  balance;  we  have  had 
to   choose   between    indifference   and    the   eager 

103  Battle    Hymn    of   the    RepuWi 


espousal  of  a  righteous  cause,  between  mercena- 
ry considerations  and  the  cry  of  justice,  be- 
tween commercial  self-interest  and  the  love  of 
righteousness  and  fair  play.  Thank  God,  we 
have  not  been  found  wanting. 

Tho    we    love    jewels    and    gold    in    store, 
Sir   Knight,   we   love   honor   and   virtue   more. 

And  as  individuals,  it  may  be  that  our  hearts 
are  to  be  tried.  God  grant  we  may  not  be  put 
To  too  severe  a  test.  But  if  our  country  needs 
us;  if  we  are  called  upon  to  choose  between  the 
comforts  of  home  and  a  call  to  the  front,  let  us 
say: 

Oh,   be   swift  my   soul   to   answer  Him,   be   jubilant  my   feet. 

4.  The  Christliness  of  Self-sacrifice— "In 
the  beauty  of  the  lilies. ' '  What  was  that  glory 
in  His  bosom?  The  glory  of  self-sacrifice.  It 
transfigures  every  life  it  touches.  It  transfig- 
ured His  life  and  changed  His  cross  into  a 
throne. 

"To  die  to  make  men  free"  is  the  holiest 
sacrifice  of  which  humanity  is  capable,  if  free- 
dom can  be  secured  better  by  death  than  life. 

Life  should  be  valued  as  a  precious  gift  of 
God— too  precious  to  be  squandered,  too  pre- 
cious to  be  wasted  on  dissipation;  but  so  cheap 
that  any  holy  cause  may  have  it  for  the  asking. 
The  patriot  says,  if  the  voice  of  duty  bids  him 
to  the  front: 


battle  Hymn  of  the.  Republic.  ](l4 


Let    me    pass,    when    life    her    light    withdraws, 

Not    void    of    righteous    self-applause, 

Not    in    a    merely    selfish    cause — 

In    some    good   cause,    not    in    mine    own. 

To   perish,   wept   for,    honored,   known, 

And     like     a     warrior     overthrown. 

Whose    eyes    are    dim    wilh    glorious    tears, 

When    soiled    with    noble   dust,    he   hears 

His    country's   war    cry    thrill    his    ears; 

Then    dying   of    a    mortal    stroke, 

What  time   the   foeman's   line    is  broke, 

And  all  the  war  is  rolled   in  smoke. 

The  blood  which  lias  been  shed  in  the  cause 
of  liberty  is  holy.  No  life  laid  on  the  altar  of 
freedom  has  ever  been  sacrificed  in  vain. 

5.  The  ultimate  victory  of  the  right— "He 
has  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  that  shall  never 
call  retreat."  I  believe  that  the  stars  in  their 
courses  will  fight  on  the  side  of  righteousness. 
The  nature  of  righteousness  makes  it  uncon- 
querable. 

We  have  a  united  people.  AVe  have  one  flag, 
whose  every  star  shines  out  a  clear  and  lumin- 
ous purpose.  AYe  have  a  righteous  cause.  God 
has  placed  Excalibur  in  our  hands.  On  the  one 
side  is  graven,  "Take  me."  on  the  other  "Cast 
me  away. "  The  meaning  is  plain,  "Take  thou 
and  strike"— the  time  to  cast  away  shall  be  when 
its  righteous  work  shall  have  been  accomplished. 
God  grant  that  it  may  then  be  sheathed  forever. 
and  that  Peace  may  be  the  guardian  saint  of  our 
republic. 

Peace   beginning   to   be 
Deep    as   the   sleep    of   the   sea, 
When   the   stars   their   faces   glass 
In    its    blue   tranquillity  : 

w 

]Q5  Battle    II u in n    of    the    Republic. 


Hearts    of    men    upon    earth 

Never   once   still   from   their   birth. 

To   rest  as  the  wild   waters   rest, 

With   the   colors   of   heaven   on   their  breast 

Love,    which    is   sunlight   of   peace, 
Age    by    age    to    increase, 
Till   angers  and   hatred  are  dead 
And    sorrow    and    death    shall    cease. 

"Peace    on    earth    and    good    will  ! 
Souls    that    are    gentle    and    still." 
Hear    the    first    music    of    this 
Par   off,     infinite     bliss  I 


Battle  Hymn   of  the  Republic.  l(j(j 


Our  Heroic  Dead* 


An  address  delivered  during  the  progress  of  the  Span- 
ish-American war  when  the  sons  of  the  South  and  the  son.; 
of  the  North  alike  surrendered  life  on  the  altar  of  freedom's 


Our  blessings,  in  one  way  or  another,  are  asso- 
ciated with  suffering.     We  may  not  lightly  re- 
joice in  the  rich  inheritance  that  is  ours  to-day. 
for  it  was  paid  for  in  tears,  and  toils,  and  blood. 
"Other  men  have  labored,  and  we  have  entered 
into  their  labors."     There  is  genuine  pathos  in 
the  progress  of  the  world.    Each  generation  has 
gone  forward  through  the  self-sacrifice  of  pre- 
ceding   generations.       The    stepping-stones    by 
which  we  mount  are  the  lives  of  men  patiently 
surrendered  for  the  sake  of  truth,  for  the  sake 
of  the  future.  The  greater  number  are  unknown 
and  forgotten.     Some  man  steps  forward,  and, 
as  another  puts  it,  "utters  the  decisive  word  in 
a   supreme   fashion,   and   then    fades   away   into 
darkness,   after  having  represented   for   a    min- 
ute, in  the  light  of  a  flash,  the  people  and  God." 
Self-sacrifice  is  at  the  root  of  all  that  is  fairest 
and  best  among  the  sons  of  men.     It  alone  has 
given  to  us  an  undying  literature.      'If  the  He- 
brew  race  had  not  pierced  its  heart  with  the  ter- 
rible griefs  of  life,  the  Psalms  would  not  have 
been  written;  if  Dante  had  not  walked  the  soli- 
tary path-of  exile  and  climbed  the  lonely  stairs. 
there  would  have  been  no  divine  comedy."  The 
highest  art    is  sprinkled   with  blood.      Pain,  and 
labor,  and  weeping,  and  death  have  enriched  the 


K.7 


Our    Heroic   Dead 


soil  from  which  have  sprung  the  graces,  and 
achievements,  and  glory  of  this  marvelous  age. 
The  old  story  of  Curtius  fitly  represents  the 
method  of  the  world's  advancement.  There  was 
a  great  gulf  suddenly  opened  in  the  city  of 
Rome.  How  should  it  be  filled?  The  Oracle 
made  answer:  "That  which  is  most  precious 
to  Home  must  be  surrendered."  And  so  the 
people  brought  their  wine,  and  their  wheat,  and 
their  jewels,  but  still  the  gulf  yawned  and  cried 
for  more.  Finally  Curtius  threw  himself  into 
the  abyss,  saying:  "That  which  is  most  pre- 
cious to  Rome  is  Rome's  manhood."  The  gulf 
was  closed,  and  the  city  was  saved.  And  so  the 
world  has  time  and  again  found  itself  halted  in 
its  advancing  life.  The  yawning  gulf,  rejfre- 
senting  the  difficulties  and  obstacles  of  progress, 
has  given  pause  to  the  marching  army.  And 
then  manhood  has  thrown  itself  into  the  chasm, 
and  the  way  is  made  smooth,  and  the  world's  life 
^oes   forward   another  league. 

Who  docs  not  honor  this  spirit  of  self-sacri- 
fice? Whose  heart-beats  are  not  quickened  as 
he  reads  of  those  who  have  not  "counted  their 
lives  deai'  unto  themselves"  when  the  voice  of 
duty  has  summoned?  Such  examples  should  be 
the  most  sacred  treasure  of  the  nation's  life. 
They  speak  silently  and  eloquently  of  con- 
science, of  principle,  of  faith  in  all  things  high; 
they  cause  us  to  breathe  an  atmosphere  that  has 
no  tincture  of  self-interest,  but  comes  from  the 
everlasting  hills  of  (iod.  They  make  us  to  feel 
that  the  brightest  crown  that  can  be  placed  upon 
the  brow  of  man  is  woven,  not  of  flowers  gath- 

Our    Heroic    Dead.  108 


ered  from  the  fields  of  pleasure,  but  rather 
woven  of  the  thorns  that  pierced  the.  brow  of 
the  Son  of  God;  they  lift  life  out  of  the  com- 
monplace and  bid  it  flame  with  the  light  of  hero- 
ism; they  reveal  to  us  by  contrast  the  littleness 
of  soul  which  clings  to  life,  when  God  calls  for 
the  smoke  of  sacrifice  to  rise  from  His  altar: 

There   are   times   when    a   man   must    die. 
Imagine,   for   a  battle-cry 
From    soldiers,    with    a    sword   to    hold — 
From   soldiers,    with   the   flag    unrolled — 
The    coward's    whine,   this    liar's    lie, 
A  man  uinst  live. 

A  brilliant  thinker  has  said:  "If  I  read 
God's  history  aright,  civilization  and  Christian- 
ity have  not  come  from  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  but  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  best.  What 
puny  human  intelligence  dares  to  assert  that  the 
blood  of  Lexington  was  not  sacred,  even  as  the 
blood  of  Calvary.  Warren  at  Bunker  Hill, 
Baker  at  Ball's  Bluff;  Bagley  at  Cardenas,  all 
gloriously  died  to  hasten  the  coming  of  God's 
kingdom  on  earth!"  The  blood  of  Calvary  has 
a  sacredness  all  its  own,  but  surely  no  man  has 
ever  laid  down  his  life  for  a  high  and  holy  cause 
who  has  not  entered  into  fellowship  with  the 
greatest  martyr  of  all  the  ages. 

And  so  to-night  we  would  honor  the  men 
who  have  died  for  Cuba.  Theirs  is  the  glory 
of  self-sacrifice.  Theirs  is  the  death  of  he- 
roes. Theirs  is  the  sleep  of  the  brave.  In  their 
death  they  have  become  transfigured  —  no  longer 
men  of  flesh  and  blood,  but  immortal  spirits  in 

lo'.l  Our    Heroic    Dead. 


the  Valhalla  of  the  world.     In  falling,  they  have 
risen   to  grander  heights;   in   dying,  they  have 

won   i ni mortality. 

All  of  us  fee]  the  pathos  of  such  passing 
away.  It  is  hard  to  die  away  from  home.  Some- 
how we  long  for  the  presence  of  those  we  love. 
We  wish  our  last  look  to  be  upon  faces  that  have 
become  endeared  to  us  by  the  sacred  associations 
of  childhood.  We  crave  the  touch  of  hands  that 
have  toiled  and  struggled  for  our  happiness. 
We  long  to  meet  eyes  that  have  more  than  once 
shed  tears  of  affection  as  they  have  thought  of 
us.  as  they  have  prayed  for  us  every  step  in  the 
way  of  life.  There  is  nothing  more  natural 
than  this  longing  for  mother  and  home.  Our 
hearts  would  be  hard,  indeed,  did  they  not  re- 
spond to  this  tender  incident,  which  one  of  the 
l>apers  reported  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence: 
"At  Siboney,  the  hospital  surgeon  told  Scanlon 
lie  had  an  hour  to  live.  He  laughed  back,  'I'll 
live  to  get  back  to  my  mother,  and  ask  her  for- 
giveness for  running  away.'  He  did.  and  died 
with  his  head  on  her  breast  last  night."  I 
imagine  that  that  mother  did  not  give  to  her  boy 
opportunity  to  ask  for  forgiveness.  I  imagine 
that  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man  was  near  that 
death-scene  and  perchance  said  to  that  mother's 
heart  "He  that  loseth  his  life  shall  find  it." 
Our  hearts  ache  as  we  re;id  this  description  of 
the  night  after  the  terrible  fighting  of  July  1st, 
before  Santiago.  "Our  troops  bivouacked  on  the 
ground  they  had  taken  so  gallantly,  but  it  was 
stained  with  the  blood  of  many  brave  men. 
Stricken  homes  and  saddened  lives  had  been  left 

Our    Heroic    Dead.  1  lo 


behind,  and  many  a  brave  boy  lay  sleeping  with 
the  dew  of  death  upon  his  beardless  face  and 
curling  lock,  while  mother  or  sweetheart  far 
away  lay  dreaming  of  him,  all  unconscious  that 
he  had  given  his  life  to  his  country."  "Who 
shall  say  that  they  did  not  have  the  companion- 
ship of  those  immortal  spirits  who  "through 
faith  wrought  righteousness,  stopped  the  mouths 
of  lions,  put  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens, 
and  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong"? 
Perhaps  the  invisible  host  of  departed  heroes 
pitched  their  unseen  tents  on  this  moon-lit  field 
of  death.  Let  us  think  of  the  dew  of  that  night 
as  the  tender  kiss  of  God  upon  those  lips  that 
were  blanched  by  death. 

Certainly  there  is  pathos  in  the  thought  of 
sleeping  in  an  unknown  grave.  Many  of  our 
brave  boys  will  rest  in  such  graves.  May  the  sod 
grow  green  above  them!  Every  one  of  them 
deserves  the  epitaph  cut  upon  the  slab  which 
marks  the  resting  place  of  a  nameless  soldier 
in  the  Southland.  'Ttis  name  is  unknown,  but 
he  fought  for  what  he  believed  was  right,  and 
God  will  give  rest  to  his  tired  body,  and  peace 
to  his  brave  heart."  It  little  matters  that  their 
names  are  not  known.  They  belong  to  that  great 
company  of  the  anonymous  whose  deeds  are 
their  enduring  monuments.  Unknown  though 
they  be.  they  are  not  unhonored.  Although  tin1 
ground  in  which  they  sleep  has  not  been  blessed 
by  priestly  hands  or  priestly  prayers,  the  blood 
they  have  shed  for  freedom  has  made  their  rest- 
ing  place  holy  ground,  and  the  God  who  notes 
the    Fall    (it   every    sparrow    will    not    forgel    his 

]  ]  ]  Our    Heroic    Die,'. 


heroes.  These  unknown  graves,  no  less  than 
others  which  have  been  marked  by  loving  hands, 
have  their  sacred  ministry.  Have  you  ever 
thought  of  this  sacred  ministry — the  ministry 
of  graves?  They  have  no  audible  speech  or  lan- 
guage, but  who  has  not  heard  their  voice?  To 
each  heart  they  come  with  a  silent  message- 
now  speaking  of  the  vanity  of  earthly  things 
and  the  sweetness  of  rest,  or  again  inviting  us 
to  thoughts  of  the  great  hereafter.  But  the 
graves  of  heroes  stir  our  souls  to  mighty  aspira- 
tions— 

Thinking   of  the  heroic  dead 

The   young  from   slothful   couch   will   start. 
And   vow   with   lifted   hands   outspread, 

Like   them   to   act    a    noble   part. 

And  so — 

The   graves  of  the   dead   with   the   grass   overgrown 
May   yet   prove  the   footstool   of   liberty's   throne. 

We  honor  to-night  the  spirit  of  seH'-sacrifice 
which  animated  the  hearts  of  these  men,  so  ad- 
mirably expressed  in  the  dying  words  of  Capt. 
Gridley,  "The  battle  of  Manila  killed  me,  but 
I  would  do  it  again."  We  honor  unselfishness  as 
it  shines  in  the  words  of  the  dying  Captain  Al- 
lyn  K.  Capron,  of  the  Rough  Riders.  "Don't 
mind  me,  boys;  go  on  with  the  fighting."  We 
honor  that  magnificent  loyalty  to  duty  which  led 
these  men  and  their  living  comrades  as  well,  to  do 
the  thing  bidden  uncomplainingly  and  cheerfully 
with  danger  and  death  confronting  them— 
"theirs  not  to  reason  why;  theirs  but  to  do  and 
die",  that  devotion  to  duty  which  did  not  hesi- 
tate, but  answered  the  country's  call   with  the 

Our    Heroic    Dead.  112 


ringing  declaration,  "Here  am  I,  send  me."  We 
honor  the  self-forgetfulness  of  that  unknown 
soldier  of  the  9th  New  York  Regiment,  who  was 
shot  through  the  head,  on  the  first  day  at  San 
Juan,  and  who  said  to  his  comrades,  when  they 
offered  him  water  to  slake  his  burning  thirst, 
"I'm  the  9th,  too,  and  I'm  dying.  Keep  your 
water;  you'll  need  it  up  in  the  firing  line  where 
you  belong.  They  want  you  there,  but  I'm 
done. ' ' 

But  I  need  not  further  enumerate  these  in- 
cidents, for  the  papers  have  recited  them,  and 
others  like  them,  until  we  have  been  made  proud 
of  our  humanity— disfigured  by  sin,  but  still  di- 
vine; walking  on  the  earth,  but  breathing  the 
atmosphere  of  the  skies.  I  do  not  need  to  eulo- 
gize the  patriotism  of  our  heroes.  Their  blood 
has  given  a  richer  color  to  the  red  in  our  flag. 
They  have  given  new  meaning  to  those  words  of 
Henry  "Ward  Beecher:  "This  nation  has  a 
banner,  the  symbol  of  liberty.  Not  another  flag 
on  the  globe  has  such  an  errand,  or  goes  forth 
upon  the  sea  carrying  everywhere,  the  world 
around,  such  hope  to  the  captive,  and  such  glo- 
rious tidings.  And  wherever  this  flag  comes,  and 
men  believe  in  it ;  they  see  in  its  sacred  emblaz- 
oning no  ramping  lion  and  no  fierce  eagle,  no 
embattled  castles  or  insignia  of  imperial  au- 
thority; they  see  the  symbols  of  light.  It  is  the 
banner  of  dawn."  They  have  helped  carry  its 
light  to  the  oppressed,  and  those  who  have  sat 
in  darkness  have  seen  in  its  ample  folds  the 
sheen  and  shine  of  liberty.  Certainly  there  has 
been  no  more  touching  incident   published  than 

1 1 :{  Our   Heroic   Dead. 


that  given  in  Edward  Marshall's  "Recollec- 
tions."    May  I  read  it? 

"There  is  one  incident  of  the  day  which 
shines  out  in  my  memory  above  all  the  others 
now  as  I  lie  in  a  New  York  hospital  writing.  It 
occurred  at  the  field  hospital.  About  a  dozen 
of  us  were  lying  there.  A  continual  chorus  of 
moans  rose  through  the  tree  branches  overhead. 
The  surgeons,  with  hands  and  bared  arms  drip- 
ping, and  clothes  literally  saturated  with  blood, 
were  straining  every  nerve  to  prepare  the  wound- 
ed for  the  journey  down  to  Siboney.  Behind  me 
lay  Captain  McClintock,  with  his  lower  leg  bones 
literally  ground  to  powder.  He  bore  his  pain 
as  gallantly  as  he  bad  led  his  men,  and  that  is 
saying  much.  I  think  Maj.  Brodie  was  also 
there.  It  was  a  doleful  group.  Amputation  and 
death  stared  its  members  in  their  gloomy  faces. 

"Suddenly  a  voice  started  softly: 

My  country,   'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet   land   of   liberty, 
Of  thee   I   sing. 

' '  Other  voices  took  it  up  : 

Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land    of — the — Pilgrim's — pride. 

"The  quivering,  quavering  chorus,  punctuat- 
ed by  groans  and  made  spasmodic  by  pain, 
trembled  up  from  that  little  group  of  wounded 
Americans  in  the  midst  of  the  Cuban  solitude— 
the  pluckiest,  most  heartfelt  song  that  human 
beings  ever  sang. 

"There  was  one  voice  that  did  not  keep  up 
with  the  others.  It  was  so  weak  that  I  did  not 
hear  it  until  all  the  rest  had  finished  the  line: 

Our    Heroic    Dead.  114 


Let  freedom  ring. 

Then,    halting,    struggling,    faint,    it    repeated 
slowly : 

Land — of — the — Pilgrim's — pride, 
Let  Freedom — 

' '  The  last  word  was  a  woeful  cry.  One  more 
son  has  died  as  died  the  fathers. ' ' 

These  men  died  in  order  to  help  make  true 
the  ideals  of  America— the  inalienable  right  to 
be  free ;  opportunity  to  develop  individual  life  in 
harmony  with  its  constitution;  fair  play  be- 
tween government  and  people  no  less  than  be- 
tween man  and  man;  the  bringing  of  hope  to 
every  son  of  man  who  is  willing  to  work  and  to 
think.  They  died  to  carry  the  gospel  of  free 
America  to  those  who  know  not  its  glorious  pri- 
vileges and  blessings— what  it  means  for  mind 
and  manhood  and  national  life.  Not  in  vain 
have  they  enriched  the  soil  of  Cuba  and  the  is- 
lands of  the  sea  with  their  hearts'  best  blood. 
The  blood  of  heroes  is  the  seed  from  which  shall 
spring  the  mighty  harvest  of  liberty.  The  Gol- 
gothas  and  the  Calvaries  have  not  been  in  vain. 
They  have  been  the  milestones  along  the  way  of 
human  progress.  "Brothers,"  cried  one  who 
felt  the  glory  of  the  coming  time,  "the  man 
who  dies  here  dies  in  the  radiance  of  the  future, 
and  we  shall  enter  a  tomb  all  filled  with  dawn." 
It  is  the  future  to  which  our  heroes  have  made 
the  contribution  of  their  blood,  and  the  future 
will  be  made  brighter  and  better  through  the 
costly  sacrifice  they  have  made.  No  blood  shed 
for  progress,  for  truth,  for  reason,  for  civiliza- 
tion can  be  wasted.     It  is  vital.     It  is  germinal. 

[15  Our   Heroic   Dead. 


And  so  we  can  but  believe  that  out  of  all  this 
sacrifice — springing  from  the  graves  of  these 
brave  men— shall  come  the  fulfillment  of  the 
dream  of  the  poet,  Joaquin  Miller,  penned  eigh- 
teen years  ago,  the  prophecy  and  dream  of  Cuba 
f/ee.     Behold  his  vision  and  hear  his  song: 

She  shall  rise,   as  rose  Columbus, 

From   his   chains,   from   shame   and   wrong, 
Rise    as    morning,    matchless,    wondrous, 

Rise  as  some  rich  morning  song — 
Rise  a  ringing  song  and  story, 

Valor,    love,    personified  ; 
Stars    and    stripes    espouse    her    glory, 

Love    and    liberty    allied. 

The  people  who  forget  their  heroes  will  in 
turn  be  forgotten ;  ' '  they  will  ingloriously  per- 
ish from  the  face  of  the  earth."  We  have  no 
ruined  castles;  no  churches  and  tombs  that  can 
be  called  ancient;  no  monuments  whose  founda- 
tions have  been  laid  in  the  dust  of  buried  cen- 
turies. We  have  no  shrines  hallowed  by  age  to 
which  travelers  from  distant  lands  repair  that 
they  may  commune  with  venerable  greatness. 
We  have  a  richer  treasure  by  far.  We  have  our 
heroes.  Surely  poetry  may  find  subject-matter 
for  a  great  and  deathless  song  in  reciting  their 
deeds  and  glorifying  the  spirit  in  man  from 
which  such  deeds  have  sprung.  There  is  no 
grander  theme  than  the  death  of  man  for  man. 
These  are  the  men  who  belong  to  the  true  order 
of  nobility,  an  order  which  passing  king  and 
changing  customs  can  not  change,  for  it  is 
founded  on  character.  All  honor  to  our  uncor- 
onated  and  untitled  noblemen.  I  share  with 
Carlyle  in  a  profound  admiration  for  the  hero 

Our    Heroic    Dead.  110 


-the  man  who  steps  to  the  front  and  does  ad- 
mirable things  from  which  lesser  mortals  shrink 
back  affrighted.  "If  we  ourselves  be  valets, 
there  shall  exist  no  hero  for  us;  we  shall  not 
know  the  hero  when  we  see  him."  We  reveal 
our  own  nobleness  in  the  recognition  of  nobility 
in  others. 

But  we  must  turn  from  our  dead  to  take  up 
the  daily  tasks  of  life.  I  hope  we  have  paused 
long  enough  to  catch  inspiration  from  their  noble 
sacrifice.  Unworthy  as  is  our  tribute,  it  is  the 
sincere  expression  of  love  and  admiration.  As 
we  think  of  them  to-night,  beautiful  in  death, 
we  feel  like  calling  the  roll,  and  as  their  voices 
are  forever  stilled,  we  will  answer  as  each  name 
is  uttered— "dead  on  the  field  of  honor"— the 
field  of  the  cloth  of  gold. 


117  Our   Heroic    Dead. 


Divine  Presence  in  Political  History 

An  address  delivered  at  the  close  of  the  Spanish- 
American    war. 

There  are  those  who  say,  in  the  condescend- 
ing language  of  a  certain  character  in  fiction, 
"After  all,  something  must  be  offered  persons 
who  are  down  in  the  world — the  barefooted,  the 
stragglers  for  existence  and  the  wretched;  and 
so  they  are  offered  pure  legends — chimeras — the 
soul-immortality — paradise — the  stars — to  swal- 
low. They  chew  that  and  put  it  on  their  dry 
bread.  The  man  who  has  nothing,  has  God,  and 
that  is  something  at  any  rate.  God  is  good  for 
the  plebs. "  If  this  were  so  then  history  would 
be  but  the  dry  narration  of  meaningless  facts, 
and  men  and  events  would  be  fulfilling  no  pur- 
pose. If  there  be  no  controlling,  directing  and 
governing  intelligence  in  the  world,  then  the 
mightiest  work  of  man  only  happens  to  have  re- 
lations with  the  future,  and  the  great  men  of 
past  ages  are  only  accidents  of  the  time  and 
the  hour.  Says  a  distinguished  historian,  "Gib- 
bon, seated  among  the  ruins  of  the  capitol  and 
contemplating  its  august  remains,  owned  the 
intervention  of  a  supreme  destiny.  He  saw  it ; 
he  felt  it;  in  vain  would  he  avert  his  eyes. 
Should  not  we  discern  amidst  the  great  ruins 
of  humanity  that  Almighty  Hand  which  a  man 
of  noble  genius,  one  who  had  never  bent  the 
knee  to  Christ,  perceived  amid  the  scattered 
fragments  of  the  monuments  of  Romulus,  the 
sculptured  marbles  of  Aurelius  and  the  trophies 

l]!t  i', inn    Presena    in   Political  History. 


of  Trajan— and  shall  we  not  confess  it  to  be  the 
hand  of  God?"  It  is  the  folly  of  superficialism 
and  wickedness  to  ignore  God. 

Never  a    daisy    that     grows 

l!ut  a    mystery    guideth    the    growing; 

Never  a    river    that    flows. 

But  a    majesty    scepters   the    flowing. 

God  is  in  humanity,  evermore  working 
through  humanity  the  fulfillment  of  his  bene- 
ficent purpose  concerning  the  world.  Carlyle 
declares:  "For  the  faith  in  an  Invisible,  Un- 
namable,  God-like,  present  everywhere  in  all 
that  we  see  and  work  and  suffer,  is  the  essence 
of  all  faith  whatsoever;  and  that  once  denied, 
or  still  worse,  asserted  with  the  lips  only,  and 
out  of  bound  prayerbooks  only,  what  other 
thing  remains  believable?" 

History  becomes  animated,  the  dry  bones 
live,  when  one  hears  the  stately  steppings  of  Al- 
mighty God  down  through  the  centuries.  Oth- 
erwise it  is  sterile,  barren.  The  breath  of  Saha- 
ra sweeps  over  the  plain  of  Death. 

But  belief  in  God  is  not  only  necessary  in 
order  to  give  history  a  purpose  and  meaning;  it 
alone  makes  national  or  individual  life  worth 
living.  It  is  admirable  to  hear  "the  man  of  iron 
and  blood" — Bismarck — saying:  "When  I 
have  felt  as  though  I  would  throw  off  this  life 
like  a  dirty  shirt,  the  saving  thought  has  always 
come  that  belief  in  God  makes  it  worth  while  to 
live."  If  there  is  no  one  who  cares;  if  there  is 
no  one  who  is  using  our  feeble  endeavors  for 
some  worthy  purpose ;  if  there  is  no  one  who  is 
fitting  these  lives  of  ours  into  some  worthy  de- 

Divine  Presence  in  Political  History.  120 


sign,  then  of  what  value  is  life?  And  so  of  na- 
tional history.  Either  the  nation  is  an  instru- 
ment of  a  higher  power  for  loftier  ends,  or  there 
is  no  reason  for  its  continued  existence.  Its  na- 
tional life  is  worthless.  Its  battles  are  murder, 
and  its  greatest  deeds  have  no  value  beyond  the 
passing  moment.  Why  should  soldiers  die  for 
a  cause,  when  that  cause  may  not,  as  accident 
shall  determine,  be  related  to  the  future  welfare 
'of  mankind? 

If  there  be  no  controlling  intelligence,  what 
■guarantee  is  there  that  the  blood  shed  to-day 
for  liberty  shall  not  be  wasted  and  futile?  To 
fight  for  truth,  for  liberty,  for  righteousness, 
is  to  fight  for  the  future,  but  what  assurance  have 
we  that  the  future  shall  claim  its  inheritance  if 
there  be  no  superior  wisdom  to  overrule  our 
-endeavors  and  bring  them  to  this  consumma- 
'  tion  ? 

The  facts  of  history,  as  well,  force  upon  us 
the  recognition  of  God.  As  Victor  Hugo  shows. 
Chance  cannot  explain  Waterloo.  He  asks, 
1  Was  it  possible  for  Napoleon  to  win  the  battle  ? 
We  answer  in  the  negative.  Why?  On  account 
•of  Wellington,  on  account  of  Blucher ?  No;  on 
account  of  God.  Bonaparte,  victor  at  Waterloo, 
did  not  harmonize  with  the  nineteenth  centu- 
ry." A  little  rain  delayed  Napoleon  and  gave 
Blucher  opportunity  to  come  up;  the  hollow  way 
of  Ohain.  hidden  from  Napoleon,  notwithstand- 
ing bis  careful  scanning  of  the  field,  into  which 
plunged  the  Imperial  Guard;  Napoleon's  guide 
deceiving  him.  Bulow's  guide  enlightening  him 

12]  Divine  Presence  in   Political  History. 


—  these  are  small  things,  but  if  they  be  chancer 
"Eternal  God  did  guide  that  chance." 

The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against 
Sisera.  God  was  in  the  shadow,  and  the  Al- 
mighty Hand  could  use  the  little  as  well  as  the 
great  to  fulfil  his  purpose. 

In  view  of  the  tremendous  results  of  AVater- 
loo,  it  was  more  than  accident  that  on  the  af- 
ternoon of  a  summer  day  a  peasant  boy  said  to 
a  Prussian  in  the  wood,  "Go  this  way  and  not 
that." 

Likewise,  in  our  war  with  Spain  there  are 
these  little  incidents  which  speak  of  providen- 
tial interference.  A  writer  has  called  attention 
to  some  of  these:  "The  storms  which  at  this, 
season  are  common  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and 
one  of  which  might  have  dispersed  if  not  de- 
stroyed the  American  fleet,  were  conspicuously 
absent.  It  was  not  American  strategy  that  delay- 
ed the  rainy  season  in  Cuba.  The  events  which 
left  Dewey  no  option  but  to  sail  into  the  harbor 
of  Manila  after  the  Spanish  fleet  are  as  signifi- 
cant as  his  decisive  victory  when  he  found  it. 
Events  wholly  beyond  our  control  might  have 
thwarted  our  best  endeavors;  events  wholly  be- 
yond our  control  have  co-operated  with  us."  We 
cannot  explain  these  things  on  the  principle  of 
chance.  We  acknowledge  the  finger  of  God.  It  is 
in  vain  that  we  try  to  get  rid  of  the  thought  of 
divine  interposition  in  the  affairs  of  men.  In  a  re- 
cent speech  of  Mr.  Henry  Watterson  he  asks, 
"Why  should  Washington,  the  Virginia  planter,, 
be  chosen  to  lead  the  Continental  armies?  Why 
Franklin  the  representative  of  the  colonies  in 

Divine  Presence  in  Political  History.  ]  22* 


London  and  Paris?"  He  adds:  "Philosophers 
may  argue  as  they  will  and  rationalism  may 
draw  its  conclusions,  but  the  mysterious  Power 
unexplained  by  either  has,  from  the  beginning  of 
time,  ruled  the  destinies  of  man."  Surely,  the 
recognition  of  God  is  reasonable.  There  is  an  in- 
telligence greater  than  ours  which  is  ever  guiding 
men  and  nations,  bringing  to  pass  results  not 
dreamed  of  in  our  philosophy. 

"The  Americans  did  not  take  up  arms  at 
Lexington  to  achieve  the  independence  of  the 
American  colonies;  nor  did  General  Anderson 
reply  to  the  guns  trained  on  Fort  Sumter  in  or- 
der to  abolish  American  slavery.  Four  years 
after  we  had  officially  and  in  the  strongest  terms 
disavowed  all  purpose  of  interfering  with 
slavery,  slavery  was  abolished  by  constitutional 
amendment."  Who  is  it,  what  is  it  that  brings 
out  these  vaster  issues?  What  brings  to  pass 
these  larger  results?  So,  we  started  out  to  free 
Cuba,  but  Providence  has  given  us  territory  of 
which  we  did  not  dream,  bidding  us  destroy 
Spanish  misrule  in  all  her  colonies. 

Because  this  recognition  of  God  is  reasona- 
ble it  is  manly.  It  is  an  evidence  of  intellectual 
vigor  rather  than  superstition.  AVe  are  told 
that  one  of  the  greatest  conquerors  of  modern 
history,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  "Lion  of  the 
North,"  with  all  his  troops  bent  his  knee  to  God 
Almighty  before  he  rushed  victorious  into  bat- 
tle. Washington  did  not  think  it  weakness  to 
acknowledge  Almighty  God  in  a  public  address 
at  Annapolis  just  before  resigning  his  sword  to 
Congress.      *  If  my  conduct  lias  merited  the  con- 

l')'.i  Divine  Presence  in  Political  Histoi  i. 


fidenee  of  my  fellow  citizens  and  has  been  in- 
strumental in  obtaining  for  my  country  the  bless- 
ings of  peace  and  freedom  I  owe  it  to  that  Su- 
preme Being  who  guides  the  hearts  of  all,  who 
has  so  signally  interposed  his  aid  in  every  stage 
of  the  contest,  and  who  has  graciously  been 
pleased  to  bestow  on  me  the  greatest  of  earthly 
rewards,  the  approbation  and  affection  of  a 
free  people."  The  creators  of  the  Constitution, 
it  has  been  well  said,  never  dreamed  of  the 
wretched  demagogism  which  has  discovered  that 
it  is  unconstitutional  to  recognize  the  existence 
and  the  kindness  of  Deity. 

Let  us  recognize  and  bow  before  "That  un- 
seen Hand  back  of  human  affairs  that  shifts  the 
scenery  and  thrusts  the  actors  on  and  off  the 
historic  stage." 


Divine  Presence  in  Political  History.  124 


Anarchy* 


An  address  delivered  at  the  Auditorium,  Louisville,  on 
the   occasion   of  the   assassination   of   President   McKinley. 

The  man  who  can  think  indifferently  of  the 
shameful  shooting  of  the  President  of  his  coun- 
try, in  whose  breast  flames  no  hot  indignation, 
and  from  whose  heart  proceeds  no  sympathy, 
needs  to  pray  with  passionate  fervor  the  prayer 
of  the  Psalmist :  ' '  Create  within  me  a  clean 
heart,  0  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within 
me. ' ' 

With  few  abnormal  and  monstrous  excep- 
tions, we  can  all  say  to  the  stricken  man  in 
Buffalo : 

Our  hearts,   our  hopes,   are   all  with  thee, 

Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 

Our  faith    triumphant    o'er    our   fears 

Are  all    with   thee — are    all    with   thee. 

Perish  our  political  jealousies  and  rivalries, 
our  prejudices  and  passions,  our  party  bick- 
ering and  bitterness,  as  we  stand  in  loving 
thought  to-night  by  the  bedside  of  one  among 
the  gentlest,  kindest  and  most  Christian  of 
all  our  Presidents.  Can  we  forget  his  graci- 
ous thoughtfulness  and  loving  devotion  for  the 
old  mother  whose  aged  and  honored  form  he 
gave  back  to  earth  so  reverently  and  so  tender- 
ly? And  what  one  of  us  has  not  been  touched 
as  he  has  observed  that  delicate  consideration 
and  beautiful  love  with  which  the  devoted  hus- 
band seeks  to  shield  his  invalid  wife  from  the 
slightest  touch  of  anxiety  and  suffering?     We 

i  •_».-,  Anarchy. 


have  a  President  who  is  not  ashamed  to  love, 
who  believes  in  the  sacredness  of  the  marriage 
vow,  who  honors  morality,  not  as  an  ornament, 
but  as  an  essential  part  of  character;  who  is 
kept  serene  in  the  midst  of  political  turmoil  by 
conscious  rectitude;  whose  political  views  may 
be  wrong,  but  whose  moral  platform  is  as  sound 
as  the  right  principles  of  love,  duty  and  right- 
eousness by  which  his  life  has  been  governed, 
and  whose  heart-loyalty  to  his  country— its  flag, 
its  constitution— no  man  can  doubt  who  has 
sympathetically  followed  him  in  his  private  and 
public  career. 

It  seems  passing  strange  that  unreasoning 
hate  should  choose  such  a  man  for  its  victim. 
Anarchy  is  the  Frankenstein  of  modern  civili- 
zation. It  is  the  product  of  a  reckless  individ- 
ualism that  seeks  to  destroy  without  end  or  mo- 
tive. It  is  impervious  to  any  appeal  of  reason 
or  common  sense.  It  would  make  a  bonfire  of 
all  existing  institutions  and  have  a  desolate 
world  as  its  congenial  home.  It  is  fanaticism 
with  torch,  dagger,  pistol  and  dynamite  as  its 
working  tools.  Its  god  is  hate ;  its  creed  is  mur- 
der ;  its  heaven  is  hell. 

There  is  danger,  however,  lest  by  intemper- 
ate speech  and  threats  possible  of  execution 
we  fan  into  fiercer  flame  the  fire  we  seek  to  ex- 
tinguish. What  shall  be  done  with  the  anarch- 
ist? Persecution  means  multiplication.  De- 
portation is  impossible  until  the  offenders  have 
been  caught  and  are  proven  anarchists— two 
things  not  easy  of  performance.  Hanging  only 
rids  the  world  of  one  anarchist  at  a  time,  and 

Anarchy.  1 2(1 


eould  not  be  made  effective  as  a  method  of  ex- 
termination unless  we  could  make  one  neck  of  the 
whole  company.  Legislation  can  do  something 
to  check  the  evil,  although  unable  to  eradicate 
it.  The  time  has  surely  come  when  liberty 
must  be  defined  in  terms  of  law,  and  freedom 
of  speech  must  mean  something  more  dignified 
than  the  hiss  of  the  serpent  or  the  siss  of  the 
flame.  For  myself,  I  see  but  three  ways  of  deal- 
ing with  anarchy— first,  kill  the  anarchist  (and 
this,  alas !  we  can  only  do  when  his  deed  makes 
him  a  murderer)  ;  secondly,  kill  the  spirit  of 
hate  and  discontent  out  of  which  anarchy 
springs,  and  this  is  an  impossible  program,  since 
it  would  involve  nothing  short  of  a  complete  so- 
cial, industrial  and  governmental  revolution. 
Nothing  remains,  therefore,  in  the  third  place 
save  improved  legislation,  quick  and  summary 
punishment  and  constant  police  watchfulness  to 
detect  and  bring  into  the  light  of  day  these  mon- 
sters of  the  dark,  where  the  public  eye  can  see 
them  and  the  public  press  can  keep  track  of  their 
movements  and  make  impossible  their  miserable 
conspiracies. 

And  now.  once  again,  our  heart  turns  to 
AVilliam  McKinley,  the  President  of  our  common 
country,  and  in  thought  we  would  reverently 
kneel  by  his  bedside  and  pray :  God  of  our  Fath- 
ers, Thou  who  didst  bring  us  into  this  goodly 
land ;  Thou  who  hast  gone  before  us  in  majesty 
and  power  unto  this  day;  Thou  who  canst  make 
the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Thee  and  bring  to 
naught  the  counsel  of  the  foolish— raise  up 
Thy   servant,   restore  him   to  his   country,   and 

i  27  Anarchy. 


send  him  forth  on  his  mission,  sanctified  by  his 
affliction  and  cheered  by  the  assurance  that  the 
hearts  of  his  countrymen  shall  answer  with  love 
and  loyalty  to  every  noble  endeavor  he  shall 
make  to  fulfill  the  hopes  and  dreams  and  aspira- 
tions of  the  great  American  people. 


i  ^  % 


Anarchy.  128- 


The  Woman  in  Politics* 


An     address     delivered     before     the     Woman'fj     Emergency 
Association  of  Louisville. 

The  mother  sustains  to  the  child,  and.  there- 
fore, to  the  coming  citizen,  a  relationship  and 
responsibility  which  may  he  shared,  but  not  as- 
sumed by  any  other  soul  in  the  universe.  This 
boy.  the  future  American  voter  and  ruler,  is 
bone  of  her  bone,  flesh  of  her  flesh,  and  through 
her  agony  has  come  into  this  world  of  trial  and 
opportunity.  Out  of  her  Gethsemane  this  new 
life  has  been  born.  Her  cross  gives  to  her  a 
unique  and  peculiar  claim  upon  this  new  life. 
She  can  say  as  the  father  himself  cannot  say: 
he  is  my  very  own,  this  boy.  life  of  my  life,  pur- 
chased by  my  vicarious  suffering,  the  crown  of 
my  sorrow.  And,  therefore,  upon  the  mother 
rests  in  a  peculiar  degree  the  responsibility  of 
molding  this  new-born  life,  for  the  memory  of 
her  touch  and  her  love  must  ever  make  the  blue 
in  whatever'  sky  may  bend  over  this  boy  in  all 
the  coming  years.  The  influence  of  the  mother 
upon  the  future  American  citizen  is  of  such 
strength  and  persistence  that  it  is  impossible 
for  any  man  to  get  away  from  it  utterly,  how- 
ever much  he  may  outrage  it  or  seek  to  conquer 
it  by  an  evil  course  of  life.  What  a  tremendous 
task  is  set  before  the  motherhood  of  America ! 
If  we  work  upon  marble,  says  Webster,  it  will 
perish;  if  we  work  upon  brass,  time  will  efface 
it  :  if  we  rear  temples,  they  will  crumble  into 
the  dust,  but  if  we  work  upon  immortal  minds. 

129  The   Woman   in   Politics. 


imbuing  them  with  principles  of  truth  and  life, 
with  a  just  fear  of  God  and  love  of  our  fellow- 
man,  we  are  engraving  upon  those  tablets  some- 
thing which  shall  brighten  unto  all  eternity. 
This  is  the  high  commission  of  the  motherhood 
of  America. 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  mother  to  the  fu- 
ture American  citizen?  In  the  first  place,  she 
must  be  unto  her  son  more  than  a  teacher.  She 
must  be  an  atmosphere  calling  forth  all  those 
high  and  noble  feelings  in  his  nature  even  as  the 
springtime  awakes  the  buds  and  the  blossoms. 
More  than  a  teacher,  she  must  be  a  source  of  in- 
spiration arousing  and  awakening  the  divine 
that  is  within  him.  Blessed  is  that  son,  when 
the  winter  of  his  discontent  has  come,  the  memo- 
ry of  whose  mother  is  as  the  breath  of  summer 
flowers  reviving  and  strengthening  those  nobler 
ideals  and  higher  notions  which  were  brought 
to  him  under  her  influence  and  love,  while  as 
yet  he  was  a  boy.  Instruction,  of  course,  under 
the  spell  and  charm  of  this  noble  motherhood 
is  essential.  She  must  teach  this  boy,  the  future 
American  citizen,  patriotism — not  the  cheap  pa- 
triotism which  shouts  for  one's  country  while 
ignorant  of  the  genius  of  her  institutions— not 
that  kind  of  patriotism  which  is  blind  to  the  ex- 
cellencies which  may  be  found  in  other  govern- 
ments and  in  other  constitutions,  but  that  pa- 
triotism which  is  born  of  whatever  is  high  and 
heroic  and  noble  in  the  history  of  our  own  land. 
Let  him  understand  that  patriotism  is  giving, 
not  getting,  the  giving  of  the  very  best  that  he 
has,  even  his  very  life  if  need  be,  and  asking 

■ 

Ihr   Woman  in  Politics.  130 


only  in  return  that  his  country  shall  be  true  to 
her  high  mission  and  to  her  splendid  destiny. 
Tell  the  story  of  America,  until  the  historic  and 
heroic  figures  of  the  noble  past  shall  stand  be- 
fore that  boy  clothed  in  flesh  and  blood,  looming 
before  him  large  and  solemn,  not  to  dwarf  his 
stature,  but  to  show  to  what  bigness  he  may 
grow,  and  let  this  story  of  America  fall  not  from 
the  lips  of  the  public  school  teacher  or  the  pri- 
vate tutor,  but  from  the  lips  of  the  mother  her- 
self, and  then  it  shall  come  as  an  enkindling 
message  forever  more  which  shall  be  associated 
in  that  boy's  mind  with  the  music  of  her  voice 
and  the  love-light  in  her  eye  and  the  inspiration 
of  her  presence. 

Let  the  mother  teach  her  boy  religion,  and 
let  her  add  to  that  instruction  that  religion  has 
to  do  with  all  life,  and,  therefore,  with  political 
life.  Do  not  permit  him  to  entertain  the  false 
notion  that  the  political  realm  is  a  thing  apart, 
with  which  religious  principles  have  nothing 
whatsoever  to  do.  The  refined  man  is  one 
whose  refinement  is  manifest  in  his  home,  in 
his  society,  in  his  business,  in  all  the  things  with 
Avhich  he  has  to  do.  You  might  as  well  under- 
take to  separate  refinement  from  the  things  with 
which  a  man  has  to  do  as  to  separate  religion 
from  the  pursuits  and  the  activities  of  life.  Re- 
ligion, my  friends,  is  either  a  part  of  the  man 
or  an  external  ornament. 

Let  the  mother  teach  this  boy,  this  future 
American  citizen,  that  he  must  be  an  active  par- 
ticipant in  politics.  Let  our  sons  and  our  hus- 
bands understand  that  it  is  a  high  and  honora- 

[g|  The    Woman   in   Politics. 


bJe  and  sacred  duty  to  enter  into  this  political 
realm  and  do  what  can  be  done  to  ennoble  it, 
to  transfigure  it  and  to  glorify  it.  There 
was  a  Roman  woman  who  was  proud  to 
call  herself  the  daughter  of  Scipio.  For  long- 
years  she  was  known  as  the  daughter  of  Scipio. 
Finally  she  married,  and  there  came  into  her 
home  two  boys.  Those  boys  grew  up  to  manhood 
and  their  names  became  illustrious  in  the  his- 
tory of  her  country.  She  said  to  her  friends 
one  day :  '  Call  me  no  longer  daughter  of  Scipio. 
Distinguished  as  that  honor  may  be,  I  glory  still 
more  in  being  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi.' 
Blessed  is  that  woman  who  can  send  out  into 
this  old  world  in  which  we  live  noble  Christian 
•citizens,  tall  men.  sun-crowned,  who  rise  above 
the  fog  in  public  duty  and  in  private  thinking." 


llic    Woman   in   Politics.  132 


Is  the  World  Growing  Better  ? 

When  we  speak  of  the  world's  growing  bet- 
ter, we,  of  course,  have  in  mind  moral  progress. 
It  may  be  questioned,  despite  this  marvelous 
century,  whether  the  world  has  made  any  no- 
table advance  in  architecture,  mechanics,  let- 
ters, painting.  But  along  moral  and  ethical 
lines,  despite  seeming  retrogression,  there  has 
been  a  steady  continuous,  forward  movement. 
The  "thoughts  of  men  have  been  widened  with 
the  process  of  the  suns."  We  know  more  of 
God,  more  of  truth,  more  of  the  power  of  right- 
eousness. We  have  wider  sympathies,  grander 
ideals,  and  mightier  incentives  to  activity.  We 
read  higher  meanings  in  the  works  and  words 
of  God,  and  life  has  become  infinitely  more  pre- 
cious, because  of  its  conscious  possibilities.  The 
world  is  growine:  better  but  not  yet  is  the  mil- 
lennium at  hand.  The  golden  year,  alas!  does 
not  greet  the  twentieth  century.  But  the  good 
time  is  coming! 

We   sW'ep    and   wake    end   sleep,   but    all   things   move. 
The   sun    flies   forward    to   his   brother   sun, 
The   dark    earth    follows   wheel'd    in   her    ellipse  ; 
And    human    things    returning    on    themselves 
Move    onward,    leading   up   the    golden   year. 

First.  The  reasons  for  a  gloomy  view  of  the 
situation  are  superficial.  Our  vision  does  not 
sweep  all  along  the  line.  It  may  be  that  in  our 
particular  locality,  corruption  is  predominant. 
Hut  our  locality  is  a  very  small  part  of  the 
world.      The  cowardice   of   one   company   is   no 

igg  is  the  World  Growing  Better T 


proof  of  the  cowardice  of  the  army.  Because 
seven  men  stop  a  train  and  rob  the  passengers, 
we  must  not  conclude  that  robbery  is  on  the  in- 
crease, for  there  were  five  hundred  passengers 
on  the  train  who  utterly  abhorred  the  deed.  If 
we  take  within  the  scope  of  our  vision  the  whole 
length  of  the  line  of  battle,  we  shall  observe  that 
the  movement  is  forward  and  onward. 

Again,  we  hear  and  read  more  of  crime,  be- 
cause greater  publicity  is  given  to  it.  Let  us 
not,  therefore,  conclude  that  the  world  is  grow- 
ing worse  every  day.  "Every  barbarous  act  of  a 
drunken  mob,"  says  one,  "is  heard  the  next 
morning  from  Maine  to  California.  But  there 
does  not  go  along  with  it  the  record  of  the  tem- 
perance reformation  in  the  same  county,  the 
progress  of  the  public  schools,  or  the  quiet  and 
devoted  labors  of  earnest  men  and  women."  If 
the  same  publicity  were  given  to  the  good,  we 
should  all  be  optimists. 

Further,  in  our  gloomy  view,  we  do  not  take 
into  consideration  the  fact  that  moral  progress 
is  necessarily  slow.  The  world  does  not  get  bet- 
ter by  leaps  and  bounds.  Moral  progress  is  not 
revolutionary,  but  evolutionary.  "First  the 
blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the 
ear."  We  should  not  grow  impatient,  because 
the  seed  does  not  spring  up  a  fiower  while  we 
gaze  upon  it.  Of  righteousness  it  may  be  said, 
as  of  the  hemp,  "All  seasons  are  its  servitors; 
all  contradictions  and  extremes  of  nature  meet 
in  its  making.  The  vernal  patience  of  the 
warming  soil,  the  long,  fierce  arrows  of  the  sum- 
mer heat,  the  long,  silvery  arrows  of  the  summer 

Is  the    World  Growing  Better*  134 


rain,  autumn's  dead  skies  and  sobbing  winds, 
winter's  sternest,  all-tightening  frosts."  Let 
us  wait.     Time  must  do  its  work. 

Perhaps  the  most  distressing  thought  — that 
which  often  staggers  our  faith — is  the  suffering 
connected  with  progress.  When  we  consider  the 
toils,  tears  and  blood  all  along  the  way,  we  ask 
ourselves,  is  the  world  which  not  only  permits 
this  suffering  but  is  immediately  responsible  for 
it — is  such  a  world  growing  better?  "Ours  is 
a  world,"  says  a  brilliant  writer,  "that  pays 
Socrates  with  a  cup  of  poison  and  Christ  with  a 
cross.  Tasso  polished  his  cantos  in  a  mad  house. 
Cervantes  perfected  his  pages  in  a  prison. 
Roger  Bacon  wrought  out  his  principles  in  a 
dungeon.  Locke  was  banished  and  wrote  his 
treatise  on  the  mind  while  shivering  in  a  Dutch 
garret."  But  obloquy,  agony,  martyrdom  are 
the  price  of  progress.  The  beaten  and  wounded 
are  the  leaders  in  this  army.  The  prophets  are 
killed,  but  from  their  supulchres  spring  the 
power  and  inspiration  which  are  needed  to  fight 
the  battles  and  win  the  victories  of  the  future. 

Second.  In  considering  the  evidences  of  the 
world's  moral  advance  we  can  only  indicate  the 
surface  signs  of  this  advancement : 

Consider  the  sweeter,  nobler  conceptions  of 
religion  which  are  ours  to-day.  The  character 
of  our  living  is  largely  dependent  upon  out- 
Christian  faith.  As  that  takes  on  higher  beauty 
life  is  ennobled.  To-day  life  is  happier,  strong- 
er, because  of  the  things  we  have  left  behind. 
Says  a  writer:  "The  Church  is  journeying 
away  from  the  falsities  of  medievalism,  but  car- 

1:55  la  the  World  Growing  Betirrf 


ries  forward  the  sweetness  and  light  of  Jesus 
<  ihrist.  Gone  forever  the  hideous  dogmas  that 
tortured  our  fathers !  Gone  forever  the  scholas- 
ticisms that  confused  Satan  with  God.  Never 
again  will  the  cross  mean  pacifying  the  wrath 
of  an  angry  deity.  Never  again  will  a  man  be 
asked  to  debase  his  reason  in  order  to  exalt  his 
heart.  The  Church  is  exchanging  the  worship 
of  the  past  for  the  heritage  of  the  present,  the 
old  philosophies  for  the  new  living  Christ." 

Think,  too,  of  the  altruistic  development 
which  is  one  of  the  most  marked  characteris- 
tics of  our  age.  There  has  come  to  us  a  greater 
knowledge  of  the  world's  suffering,  and,  there- 
fore, an  increased  tenderness.  We  know  more 
of  social  conditions,  and,  therefore,  we  love 
more.  The  age  of  organization  in  the  Church 
was  followed  by  the  age  of  dogma,  and  now  we 
have  come  upon  the  age  of  love.  The  certificate 
of  Christianity  is  something  more  than  proved 
propositions.  It  is  a  helpful  life.  There  has 
come  a  new  conscience,  which  makes  it  impossi- 
ble "for  men  to  be  content  to  have,  while  their 
brothers  have  not.  The  physical  misery  of  the 
world's  disinherited  is  becoming  the  spiritual 
misery  of  the  world's  elect." 

This  growing  and  deepening  altruistic  spirit 
is  manifesting  itself  as  never  before  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  wealth. 

And   slow   and   sure   comes   up   the   golden   year, 
When  wealth  no  more  shall  rest  in  mounded  heaps, 
But  smit  with  freer  light   shall   slowly  melt 
In    many   streams    to   fatten   lower   lands. 

I  have  seen  the  statement  that  there  are  now 

7.t   the    World   Growing   Better?  ]8'> 


seventy  American  estates  that  average  $35,000,- 
000  each.    The  question  is  asked  whether  the  ex- 
isting hundred  millionaires  foreshadow  the  com- 
ing billionarist?     This  tendency  to  the  accumu- 
lation of  vast  fortunes  will  not  be  checked  by. 
legislation,  but  by  the  mighty  moral  sentiment, 
coming  to  be  more  and  more  pronounced,  that 
will   put   under   the  ban   of   condemnation   any 
man  who  dares  to  keep  his  money  for  himself— 
handing  it  down  from  generation  to  generation  as 
an   inheritance   of   pride    and   selfishness.      The 
time  is  fast  approaching  when  it  will  he  a  dis- 
grace for  a  man  to  hoard  and  preserve  a  great 
fortune  as  a   family  inheritance.     Because  the 
woes  of  the  world  are  better  known,  and  the  still 
sad  music  of  humanity  cannot  he  drowned.     Be- 
cause selfishness  is  coming  to  be  clearly  identi- 
fied with  littleness  and  meanness.     Because  no- 
ble examples  of  generous  living  will  sting  and 
shame  miserly  souls  into  liberality.     Because  of 
the   growing  appreciation   of  simple   and   high- 
minded  manhood  apart  altogether  from  its  pos- 
sessions.    The   "golden   calf"   is  already  being 
melted   and   coined    into   kindly   ministries   and 
helpful  agencies  to  aid  in  the  world's  redemp- 
tion from  misery  and  vice.     It  must  endow  col- 
leges,   build    churches,    rear   hospitals,    help    to 
spread  the   gospel,   give  wings  to  those   goodly 
ships  of  which  the  poet-prophet  sings: 

Fly    happy    sails,    and    bear   the    press ; 
Fly.    happy    with    the   mission    of  the   cross, 
Knit    land    to    land,    and    blowing   heavenward. 
With    silks,    and    fruits,    and    spices,    clear    of    tell. 
Enri.h    the    markets    of    the    golden    year. 

|gy  Is  the  W'orld  Growing  Better? 


These  are  only  a  few  of  the  indications  of 
advancing  moral  progress. 

Third.  Consider  the  guarantee  of  continu- 
ed progress.  First,  the  presence  of  God  in  his 
world.  Dr.  Alex.  Maclaren  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Theo.  L.  Cuyler  says :  "Many  a  time  I  am  ready 
to  thank  God— when  I  see  the  deadness  in  the 
churches  and  the  awful  problems  that  have  to 
be  faced — that  I  am  nearer  the  end  than  the  be- 
ginning of  my  course.  But  as  Luther  wrote 
with  some  spilled  wine  on  the  table,  'Vivit — he 
lives—and  that  is  enough.'  "  The  cause  of 
righteousness  is  God 's  cause,  and  he  will  not  for- 
get his  own.  He  lives  in  his  world  now.  He  has 
never  withdrawn  his  presence.  He  is  working 
in  the  men  of  to-day  as  surely  as  in  the  past- 
stirring  their  interest  as  never  before  in  socio- 
logical questions,  deepening  their  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility by  making  more  real  the  brother- 
hood of  man,  putting  it  into  their  hearts  to  be 
more  liberal  in  the  distribution  of  their  wealth, 
enlarging  their  sympathies  to  carry  the  gospel 
to  the  whole  creation,  and  leading  forth  from 
many  of  our  universities  into  the  foreign  field 
"the  flower  and  chivalry  of  our  youth."  God 
is  working  in  humanity  in  all  the  great  educa- 
tional and  missionary  movements  of  this  mar- 
velous age,  in  all  the  multiplied  agencies  for  the 
pushing  forward  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ. 
We  recognize  this  presence  in  every  honest  effort 
that  is  being  put  forth — even  though  not  re- 
warded with  immediate  success— in  the  interest 
of  municipal  and  national  reform.  We  recog- 
nize this  presence  in  the  growing  spirit  of  peace 

Is   the   World  Groivina  Better?  138 


that  shall  yet  express  itself  in  international  ar- 
bitration. In  all  these  ways  and  through  all 
these  ministries  God  is  making  his  presence  felt 
in  the  world.  Our  God  is  marching  on.  "Thanks 
be  unto  God,  who  is  giving  us  the  victory." 
God  wills.  God  works.  God  will  win.  To  doubt 
this  would  be  practical  atheism. 

Another  reason,  close  akin  to  the  first,  upon 
which  we  rest  our  hope  of  the  final  supremacy 
of  righteousness,  is  the  nature  of  righteousness 
itself.  It  is  the  only  indestructible  principle  of 
the  universe.  Error  is  temporary  and  transient. 
It  has  its  brief  day,  but  whenever  it  has  gained 
any  long-continued  influence  it  has  been  because 
of  its  likeness  to  truth.  Error,  speaking  in  the 
name  of  truth,  wearing  the  mask  of  truth,  is 
powerful  only  until  the  day  of  exposure.  Error 
known  to  be  error  is  a  broken  reed  upon  which 
the  world,  conscious  of  its  need  of  support,  will 
not  willingly  lean.  Righteousness  alone  is  clothed 
with  irresistible  power,  and,  therefore,  its  very 
nature  requires  that  it  shall  win.  The  unjust 
thing  cannot  last.  As  Carlyle  says:  "If  unjust, 
it  will  not  and  cannot  get  harbor  for  itself  or 
continue  to  have  footing  in  this  universe,  which 
was  made  by  other  than  one  unjust.  .  .  .  Prom 
all  souls  of  men,  from  all  ends  of  nature,  from 
the  throne  of  God  above,  there  are  voices  bid- 
ding it  away!  away!  Does  it  take  no  warning? 
It  will  continue  standing  for  its  day.  its  year, 
its  century,  doing  evil  all  the  while,  but  it  has 
one  enemy  who  is  Almighty:  dissolution,  explo- 
sion and  the  everlasting  laws  of  nature  inces- 
santly advance   toward    it.   -,\n(]   the   deeper  its 

13U  I.i  the  MrorJd  Growing  Better? 


rooting,  more  obdurate  its  continuing,  the  deeper 
also,  and  surer,  will  be  its  ruin  and  overthrow." 

Furthermore,  the  cumulative  power  of  right- 
eousness is  another  reason  for  the  hope  that  is 
in  us.  Righteousness  has  become  more  powerful 
in  each  generation  by  virtue  of  inheriting  the 
good  which  came  from  the  preceding  generation. 

We  are  "heirs  of  ail  the  ages."  Not  in  vain 
have  martyrs  given  their  bodies  to  the  flame; 
not  in  vain  the  blood  and  tears  of  the  world's 
Ciethsemanes  and  Calvarys;  not  in  vain  the  bat- 
tlefields where  men  have  struggled  for  right  and 
justice.  All  the  heroic  endeavor  of  the  past  is  a 
contribution  to  the  present.  Therefore,  the 
righteousness  of  to-day  feels  the  noble  blood  of 
preceding  centuries  beating  in  its  veins.  Its 
strength  is  its  own  inherent  strength  multi- 
plied by  the  strength  which  has  been  transmit- 
ted to  it  from  an  historic  and  heroic  past.  This 
increasing  power  from  generation  to  generation 
means  ultimate  supremacy  and  enthronement. 
What  a  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  these  count- 
less, unrecorded,  silent  workers  of  the  centuries 
that  lie  behind  us!  "Other  men  have  labored 
and  we  have  entered  into  their  labors."  The 
assurance  of  victory  is  brighter  because  they 
have  lived  and  wrought.  We  may  say  as  Napo- 
leon: "Forty  centuries  look  down  upon  you." 
'Forty  centuries  live  in  you,"  giving  their  ac- 
cumulated power  to  head  and  heart  and  hand  in 
the  mighty  conflict  of  righteousness. 

The  sure  promises  of  our  God  give  us  assur- 
ance that  shall  not  be  brought  to  shame:  "Every 
knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  shall  confess 

7?   the   World  Groicina  BetterT  140 


that  he  is  Lord."  Of  the  final  supremacy  of 
righteousness  there  should  be  no  doubt.  Jesus 
Christ  shall  claim  as  his  own  all  the  kingdoms 
of  earth  and  God's  will  shall  be  the  law  of  life. 
"The  golden  rule  of  Christ  shall  yet  bring  in  the 
golden  age  of  man." 


Hi 


Is  the    World  Growing  Better? 


The  Dignity  of  Man* 


My  theme  is  "The  Dignity  of  Man"  or  as 
better  indicating  the  scope  of  this  address— 
"The  Royalty  of  our  Human  Nature."  The 
term  "man"  transcends  the  narrow  limitations 
of  sex  and  claims  for  its  full  significance  and 
interpretation  a  whole  humanity.  It  is  worth 
while  to  remember  that  the  name  given  to 
"man"  in  the  beginning  includes  both  the  fem- 
inine and  masculine— "male  and  female  creat- 
ed he  them;  and  blessed  them  and  called  their 
name  Adam  in  the  day  when  they  were  creat- 
ed." In  exalting  man  I  am  honoring  woman, 
for  the  human  nature  in  both  is  the  same,  al- 
beit in  woman  it  is  finer.  We  may  not  disso- 
ciate that  which  God  has  joined  together.  The 
man  and  the  woman  have  walked  side  by  side 
through  the  ages— one  and  indivisible— alike 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  alike  defacing  that 
image  through  sin,  alike  in  the  gracious  thought 
and  purpose  of  God  in  their  relations  to  both 
time  and  eternity.  The  sad,  glad  story  of  hu- 
manity is  the  story  of  Adam— both  the  father 
and  mother  of  our  race.  Permit  me,  therefore, 
to  speak  of  the  glory  of  our  common  humanity 
-not  that  we  may  have  meat  upon  which  to 
feed  our  pride,  but  that  we  may  give  ourselves 
to  generous  endeavor.  We  cannot  fail  to  hear 
the  minor  chord  in  our  song  of  exultation.  The 
opening  note  in  this  anthem  of  rejoicing  is  the 
cb'ppest  bass  which  has  ever  been  sounded  in  the 

j  (g  The     Dignity     of     Man. 


music  of  the  world.  I  do  not  forget  the  terri- 
ble, tremendous  fact  of  Sin,  nor  the  terrible, 
tremendous  consequences  of  Sin.  I  do  not 
forget  that  an  enemy  and  intruder  laid  waste 
the  fairest  garden  of  which  any  poet  ever 
dreamed  and  drove  forth  man  from  his  blissful 
home  into  an  unfilled  and  unknown  wilderness. 
But— let  us  add  quickly— his  banishment  was 
his  enthronement.  Not  until  the  flowers  of  the 
garden  have  been  exchanged  for  the  thorns  of 
the  field  does  man  become  conscious  of  his  pow- 
er. The  unfilled  wilderness  suddenly  speaks 
forth  invitation  and  challenge.  The  rocks  of  the 
field  are  defiant  until  smitten.  The  new  and 
strange  environment  says— "touch  me  and  you 
shall  discover  the  hidden  possibilities  of  your 
own  nature."  I  do  not  minimize  the  guilt,  the 
shame  and  suffering  of  sin  j  I  rather  magnify 
that  divine  grace  which  so  endowed  man  that 
through  sin — grappling  with  the  conditions 
wrought  by  sin — his  dormant  powers  were 
aroused  and  he  starts  forth  on  his  career  "as  an 
athlete  rejoicing  to  run  a  race."  Man's  digni- 
ty becomes  manifest  as  he  measures  himself 
against  his  task,  as  he  subdues  the  earth  to  his 
own  will  and  purpose,  as  he  smites  down  oppos- 
ing forces,  and  like  the  strong  swimmer  bat- 
tling with  the  waves,  converts  resistance  into 
progress,  hindrances  into  helps,  weights  into 
wings.  The  wilderness  into  which  goes  forth 
the  banished  exile  is  transformed  into  the 
splendid  scene  of  opportunity  and  destiny. 
Better  than  the  flowers  of  Eden— the  idyllic 
happiness    of    innocence — are    the    sword    and 

the    Dignity    of    Man.  144 


shield  of  the  wairior— the  struggle  which  both 
reveals  and  develops  the  mighty  strength  of  an 
advancing  and  conquering  humanity.  Apart 
from  this  view  of  the  subject  which  finds  in 
man's  sin,  through  the  arrangement  of  divine 
love,  a  revelation  of  man's  greatness,  we  may 
further  add  in  the  words  of  the  poet  Young, 
that  even  "his  crimes  attest  his  dignity."  The 
inverted  image  of  the  ship  mirrored  in  the  calm 
lake  reveals  its  true  and  normal  dimensions  and 
so  the  depth  of  infamy  into  which  man  has  de- 
scended is  proof  of  the  height  of  holiness  to 
which  it  is  possible  for  him  to  attain.  "Goethe 
summarizes  the  argument  when  he  reminds  us 
that  Faust  can  only  be  as  devilish  actually  as 
he  was  divine  potentially."  Read  the  pages  of 
history  and  the  letters  are  blurred  because  of 
the  blood  with  which  man  has  stained  those 
pages.  You  hear  his  terrific  tread  on  ten 
thousand  battlefields;  you  behold  the  marks  of 
his  reckless  destructiveness  all  along  the  path- 
way of  human  existence ;  like  some  awful  Frank- 
enstein, he  comes  striding  across  the  stage  of  the 
centuries,  leaving  behind  him  devastation  and 
death;  as  imagination,  using  the  facts  of  histo- 
ry, pictures  him  in  his  wickedness,  he  is  colos- 
sal, stupendous,  terrible.  And  yet  the  story  of 
man's  crimes  is  a  revelation  of  man's  grandeur. 
Like  "a  steed  in  frantic  fit,  that  flings  the  froth 
from  curb  and  bit"  and  who  by  this  fiery  tem- 
per reveals  the  mettle  which  the  trainer  seeks 
in  the  horse  of  which  he  shall  some  day  be  proud, 
so  man's  defiant  wickedness— his  bold,  daring 
iniquity— reveals  the  splendid  quality  of  that 

145  The     Dignity     of    Man. 


spirit,  which  when  trained  for  truth  and  God, 
can  work  miracles  of  righteousness  and  register 
moral  achievements  that  shall  outshine  all  stars 
and  suns  and  systems. 

But,  passing  into  another  realm  of  our  sub- 
ject, let  us  remember  that  God  sets  a  unique 
value  upon  man  in  giving  to  him  the  supreme 
place  in  the  divine  thought  and  regard.  The 
Universe  itself  represents  God's  thought  for 
man  since  it  was  created  for  the  sake  of  man  and 
has  no  meaning  apart  from  his  presence  on  the 
earth.  Anticipating  the  appearance  of  the  chief 
actor,  God  makes  ready  a  worthy  theatre  for 
the  exercise  and  training  of  his  mighty  powers. 
For  him  the  stars  were  lighted  and  the  sun  was 
kindled ;  for  him  the  mountains  were  reared  and 
the  valleys  were  touched  into  peace  and  beauty. 
That  God  should  think  enough  of  man  to  pre- 
pare this  earth-home  as  his  temporary  residence ; 
that  He  should  have  taken  ages  to  make  it 
ready  and  fit  it  for  man's  occupancy;  that  the 
thought  of  man  as  the  end  of  the  long  creative 
process  was  ever  in  the  divine  mind— surely 
such  considerations  make  man  the  "crown  and 
glory"  of  the  Universe.  The  whole  creative 
movement  finds  its  justification  in  man.  "When 
I  consider  man,  final  product  of  the  creative 
process,  what  are  sun,  moon  and  stars?  Wheth- 
er the  astronomic  bodies  contain  human  beings, 
I  know  not.  If  they  do,  then  man  there,  as  here, 
is  supreme.  If  they  do  not,  then  vast  in  mass, 
in  distance,  and  in  the  swings  of  their  revolu- 
tions as  these  bodies  are,  they  are  insignificant 
compared  with  the   chief  tenant  of  this  small 

The   Dignity   of   Man.  146 


terrestrial  planet."  The  Universe  exists  for 
the  sake  of  man's  moral  and  spiritual  culture — 
and  in  the  creation  of  the  world,  therefore,  man 
is  enthroned  in  the  thought  of  God.  May  we 
not  read  that  magnificent  Psalm  in  the  light  of 
this  larger  thought:  "When  I  consider  thy 
heavens,  the  work  of  thy  hands;  the  moon 
and  the  stars  which  thou  hast  ordained"  how 
great  is  man — the  creature  for  whose  benefit 
and  happiness  this  splendid  environment  was 
brought  into  existence.  Or,  to  employ  a  differ- 
ent speech,  the  Physical  Universe  is  the  gorge- 
ous robe  woven  by  the  thought  of  God  for  man. 
As  we  think  of  the  loom — the  mind  of  God — in 
which  it  was  woven,  the  long  aeons  in  which  the 
great  weaver  was  busy  with  his  task,  the  radi- 
ant beauty  and  richness  and  fitness  of  the  gar- 
ment which  was  finally  deemed  worthy  for  the 
creature's  use  and  joy,  we  begin  to  appreciate 
in  part  the  supreme  place  which  man  has  al- 
ways occupied  in  the  divine  thought  and  inter- 
est. Man  was  created  to  wear  the  purple  and  the 
royal  garment  had  been  prepared  in  anticipa- 
tion of  his  appearance. 

But  as  yet  we  have  been  speaking  only  of  the 
intimations  and  suggestions  of  man's  greatness. 
Let  us  now  consider  his  essential  dignity — that 
in  his  nature  which  crowns  him  with  glory  and 
honor.  We  are  fond  of  magnifying  the  human 
body.  A  marvelous  mechanism  it  is  and  a  reve- 
lation of  that  divine  wisdom  which  is  manifest 
in  every  part  of  the  wonderful  structure.  We 
are  told  that  "all  the  excellencies  of  the  lower 
animal  creation  are  swept  together  and  united 

147  The    Dignity     of    Man. 


in  man's  body."  "In  form  and  movement,  how 
express  and  admirable!  The  beauty  of  the 
world!  the  paragon  of  animals!"  And  yet  man's 
body  is  no  match  against  the  wild  winds  and 
ungovernable  forces  of  nature.  It  is  no  durable 
barrier  against  the  Atlantic  tide.  A  clod  can 
crush  it;  disease  can  conquer  it.  Man's  essen- 
tial glory  is  not  to  be  discovered  in  the  transient 
and  perishable  body.  The  body  is  but  the  tem- 
ple through  whose  doors  and  windows  the  inner 
splendor  shines— the  splendid  but  imperfect 
medium  through  which  the  true  glory  seeks  for 
itself  expression  and  manifestation.  It  is  but 
the  dumb  organ  with  its  dumb  stops  and  keys 
and  pipes  until  the  touch  of  power  startles  it 
into  the  energy  of  grand  music.  Nor  do  we 
arrive  at  man's  essential  dignity  in  magnifying 
his  achievements  in  the  realms  of  nature,  liter- 
ture,  science  and  art,  for  great  as  these  have 
been  they  are  but  the  expressions  of  a  greater  glo- 
ry. Man  measures  himself  against  the  sea,  and 
its  dangerous  winds  and  waves  become  the  min- 
isters of  commerce.  The  mountain  still  stands 
unterrified,  but  man  makes  it  his  pedestal.  The 
forces  of  nature  are  trained  and  harnessed  and 
driven  with  a  steady  hand.  And  yet  when  man 
shall  become  the  master  of  every  element  in  land 
and  sea  and  sky,  he  will  still  recognize  in  him- 
self a  greatness  that  has  not  been  exhausted  by 
all  that  he  has  wrought  and  achieved.  We  are 
told  that  Hamlet  is  the  highest  expression  of 
literature,  the  Parthenon  the  highest  expression 
of  architecture, the  Ninth  Symphony  the  highest 
expression  of  music  and  yet  poet,  architect  and 

The    Dignity    of   Man.  148 


musician  has  each  felt  himself  to  be  something 
more  and  higher  than  his  immortal  work. 

Never    a    Shakespeare    that    soared,    but    a    stronger    than    he 

did   enfold   him, 
Never  a  prophet  foretells,  but  a  mightier  seer  hath  foretold 

him. 
Back  of   the   canvas   that   throbs   the      painter    is   hinted   and 

hidden  ; 
Into  the  statue  that  breathes  the  soul  of  the  sculptor  is  bidden. 

And  so  man  is  more  than  the  works  he  has 
made  in  the  world;  something  higher  than  his 
temples,  grander  than  his  oratorios,  vaster  than 
the  mightiest  results  of  his  creative  intellect. 
These  are  but  the  tracks  he  has  made  across  the 
centuries— his  footsteps  on  the  sands  of  time. 
They  proclaim  a  great  presence  in  our  world, 
but  they  do  not  reveal  the  secret  of  that  great- 
ness—the essential,  indestructible  and  unchang- 
ing dignity  of  which  all  achievements  are  but 
the  story  and  the  song. 

In  what,  then,  consists  this  essential  dignity? 
What  is  that  inner  fire  whose  radiance  and  glow 
we  see  and  feel  in  the  history  of  humanity? 
What  is  that  invisible  and  mighty  power  which 
moans  and  sobs  in  man's  purest  sorrows  and 
sings  and  soars  in  his  highest  joys?  What  is 
that  royal  endowment  which  is  both  the  myste- 
ry and  glory  of  our  human  nature?  From  out 
the  depths  of  an  infinite  Past  and  from  the  un- 
changing heights  upon  which  the  Almighty  is 
throned  comes  the  deep-toned  and  everlasting 
reply— "And  God  said,  let  us  make  man  in  our 
image,  after  our  likeness  *  *  *  So  God 
created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of 

149  The    Dignity     of    Man. 


God  created  he  him;  male  and  female  created 
he  them."  This  is  the  certificate  and  explana- 
tion of  human  greatness.  Upon  man's  nature 
is  the  divine  handwriting  and  it  reads:  this  is 
my  image  and  superscription.  Reason,  free- 
dom, love  of  the  good,  hatred  of  the  evil— the 
endowments  of  a  spirit  that  corresponds  in 
character  to  the  God  who  is  its  Father — here, 
at  last,  we  discover  man's  essential  dignity.  It 
is  the  divinity  of  humanity  that  gives  to  it 
glory,  sacredness  and  power.  It  is  the  greatness 
of  God— the  possession  of  a  spirit  that  is  the 
"dim  miniature  of  greatness  absolute"— this  it 
is  that  makes  man  great.  He  is  a  spark  struck 
off  from  the  central  Sun,  but  of  the  same  nature 
as  that  Sun;  he  is  a  drop  dissevered  from  the 
boundless  sea,  but  in  essence  one  with  that  sea. 
It  is  the  possession  of  this  "image  of  God" 
that  makes  possible  the  revelation  of  God's 
thought  and  character  to  man,  for  unless  there 
be  in  man  that  which  corresponds  to  God's 
thought  and  character,  how  shall  connection  be 
established  and  His  will  and  ways  be  made 
known?  If  love  and  justice  and  righteousness 
in  man  be  something  different  in  their  essence 
from  these  qualities  in  God,  how  shall  they  ever 
become  for  us  more  than  words  when  applied 
to  the  divine  nature?  As  says  another:  "Com- 
munion ceases  when  there  ceases  to  be  a  faculty 
held  in  common.  If  crimson  or  gold  to  the  ar- 
tist means  black  to  the  beholder,  there  can  be  no 
gallery.  And  unless  duty,  hope  and  love  in  men 
stand  for  these  rich  qualities  in  God,  there  can 
be    no    relationship.    While    Tennyson    walked 

The   Dignity   of  Man.  150 


in  his  arbor  and  mused  aloud  over  his  "In  Me- 
moriam''  he  saw  a  caterpillar  crawling  up  his 
desk.  But  the  little  creature  understood  not  one 
whit  of  all  the  pathos  of  grief  and  weight  of 
love  that  the  poet  was  pouring  aloud  in  his 
sweet  song.  There  was  no  mental  chord  in  the 
worm  that  answered  to  the  chord  in  the  man. 
Could  Tennyson  have  endowed  this  worm  with 
reason,  it  would  have  understood  his  thought; 
with  taste  and  affection,  it  would  have  sympa- 
thized with  his  grief;  with  conscience,  it  would 
have  understood  his  inspiring  prayer."  Prayer 
becomes  reasonable  when  we  remember  that  man 
is  made  in  God's  image. 

Speak  to  Him,  thou,  for  he  hears,  and  Spirit  with  Spirit  can 

meet ; 
Closer  is  He  than  breathing,  and  nearer  than  hands  and  feet. 

Man,  in  his  essential  being  is  one  with  God 
and  therefore  intercourse  is  reasonable  and  pos- 
sible and  necessary. 

It  is  because  man  is  made  in  the  image  of 
God  that  he  is  dissatisfied  with  the  imperfect, 
the  transient,  the  things  of  time  and  sense. 
What  is  it  but  the  noble  discontent  of  the  caged 
eagle  instinctively  feeling  that  it  was  made  for 
the  clouds  and  chafing  under  its  limitations? 
We  can  imagine  the  acorn  saying — "I  feel  stir- 
ring within  my  tiny  form  the  presence  and  im- 
age of  the  oak.  I  cannot  be  happy  until  thai 
image  has  been  wrought  out  or  developed  in 
trunk  and  branches  and  leaf  and  my  possibili- 
ties have  been  brought  to  their  fruition."  It 
is  so  with  tiian.     Created  in  God's  image,  noth 

151  The    Dignity    of    Mai. 


ing  short  of  that  image  can  satisfy  him.  "I 
shall  be  satisfied"  cries  the  Psalmist  "when  I 
awake  in  thy  likeness."  Now  the  lines  of  that 
image  in  man's  nature  are  very  indistinct — in 
many  almost  erased.  To  bring  them  ont  in 
completeness  and  beauty  until  the  very  face  of 
God  shall  be  seen  in  man— this  is  the  meaning 
and  purpose  of  Christianity.  Some  day  "we 
shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is." 
Have  we  not,  also,  an  argument  for  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul  in  the  great  truth  that  man 
is  created  in  God's  image?  Man  uses  only  a 
part  of  his  vast  power  in  dealing  with  earthly 
conditions.  He  sends  forth  his  intellect  into 
the  world  and  brings  back  science,  literature, 
music,  art  and  the  refinements  of  civilization. 
He  sends  forth  his  imagination  and  there  comes 
to  him  "the  delicious  sense  of  indeterminate 
size" — the  sense  of  marvelous  enlargement  and 
enrichment.  But  yet  he  feels  forces  within  him 
that  have  scarcely  been  called  into  action  in  all 
the  vast  excursions  of  mind.  "When  the  last  and 
grandest  picture  has  been  painted  by  genius; 
when  the  last  hidden  force  of  nature  has  been 
brought  to  light  by  the  scientist ;  when  this  earth 
has  been  subdued  by  the  will  i*nd  mind  of  man 
and  the  stars  and  suns  have  grown  weary  of  re- 
sisting man's  importunity  and  have  yielded 
their  secrets— even  then  this  mighty,  divine, 
spiritual  nature  of  man  will  require  for  its  ope- 
ration and  exercise  new  scenes  and  conditions. 
Immortality  is  necessary  to  give  the  divine  im- 
age the  opportunity  for  its  fulfilment  and  real- 
ization.    As  says  Browning: 

The   Dignity   of   Man.  132 


I  know  this  earth  is  not  my  sphere, 
For  I  cannot  so  narrow  me,  but  that 
I  still  exceed  it. 

Furthermore,  it  is  this  divine  image  in  man 
which  explains  and  interprets  his  highest  and 
best  moods.  However  commonplace  our  lives 
may  be,  there  come  to  us  high  moments  when 
aspiration  is  awakened.  Then  the  stars  come 
out  and  the  night  is  holy.  Then  we  see  white 
presences  among  the  hills.  Then  we  move  and 
have  our  being  in  worlds  unrealized.  Then 
heaven  touches  earth  and  familiar  objects  be- 
come transfigured.  As  says  another:  "Vision 
hours  are  God's  torches  revealing  the  soul's 
hidden  treasure.  The  ideals  and  longings  of  the 
soul  in  its  luminous  states  are  overtures  from 
God.  Mariners  sailing  over  the  sunken  island 
of  Atlantis  imagine  they  hear  the  voices  rising 
from  the  sunken  city.  Thus  there  are  great, 
deep  convictions  lying  low  down  in  the  hearts 
of  men  that  ever  and  anon  send  up  mysterious 
voices,  reminding  men  that  they  are  divine  and 
must  not  live  on  any  level  lower  than  God's." 
You  are  made  in  God's  image  and  hence  in  your 
best  moods  you  long  to  be  pure  and  good.  Give 
the  soul  a  chance  and  because  of  its  constitu- 
tion and  nature  it  will  cry  out  for  God;  it  will 
dream  of  a  heaven  where  the  white  light  of 
love  and  righteousness  shall  forever  shine— 
the  land  of  fulfilled  dreams  and  realized  visions. 

If  time  permitted,  I  might  speak  of  the  roy- 
alty of  our  human  nature  as  declared  in  the  great 
fact  of  the  incarnation.  It  is  not  denied  that 
there  once  lived  upon  this  earth  a  man  whose 

55:5  The     Dignity     of    Mai:. 


splendid  life  has  never  been  surpassed  or  equal- 
ed in  the  history  of  humanity.  That  life  says 
to  us :  "  This  is  humanity  as  realized  in  the 
thought  and  purpose  of  God.  This  is  royalty 
come  to  its  throne  and  wielding  its  sceptre  of 
power.  This  is  man  as  he  shall  be  and  as  he  was 
designed  to  be."  If  we  are  stirred  by  the 
thought  that  a  Washington  has  worn  our  na- 
ture, what  noble  ambitions  should  be  awakened 
in  our  souls  as  we  think  of  the  possibilities  of 
this  nature  as  developed  and  perfected  in  the 
man  of  Nazareth?  Gaze  upon  him  only  as  a 
sublime  historical  personage,  and  the  vision  can 
but  prove  a  source  of  inspiration  and  power, 
even  as  when  you  study  a  great  painting  the 
thoughts  of  beauty  can  nevermore  be  wholly 
absent  from  your  life.  If  I  were  preaching  a 
sermon,  I  would  point  you  to  a  cross  outside 
Jerusalem  which  to  all  Christian  minds  and 
hearts  is  the  supreme  revelation  of  the  value 
which  God  places  upon  man.  Well  and  beauti- 
fully has  it  been  defined  as  "God's  eulogy  on 
man,  written  in  letters  of  crimson,  the  temporal 
display  of  God's  eternal  heart-ache." 

But  it  is  now  high  time  to  speak  our  con- 
cluding words  and  to  give  our  message  its  pres- 
ent and  immediate  application.  Because  of  the 
dignity  of  your  human  nature,  take  as  your 
motto— "noblesse  oblige" — nobility  compels.  The 
King  must  meet  the  crown's  demands;  high  sta- 
tion calls  for  high  service.  It  is  because  you  are 
great  that  you  must  live  greatly.  Let  the  tiger 
be  ravenous  and.  the  snake  sinuous— for  this  is 
their  nature;  but  man,  made  in  the  image  of 

The   Dignity   of  Man.  154 


God,  must  be  good.  Remember  whose  likeness 
you  bear  and  dare  to  keep  it  unsullied  and  un- 
tainted. You  are  kings  and  queens— live  roy- 
ally and  maintain  your  high,  state  with  self-re- 
spect and  honor.  Go  forth  as  Knights  and  La- 
dies of  Heaven  to  champion  the  cause  of  the 
right  against  the  wrong— of  truth  against  false- 
hood. 

May  God  help  you  to  realize  your  dignity, 
to  feel  the  hidings  of  your  power,  for  not  until 
then  will  you  bring  things  to  pass  or  register 
achievements  that  are  worth  while. 


So  near  is  grandeur  to  our  dust, 

So  close  is  God  to  man, 
When  Duty  whispers  low  "thou  must,' 

The  youth  replies,  "I  can." 


Remember  always  that  there  can  be  no  true 
culture  apart  from  the  culture  of  the  spiritual, 
the  divine  part  of  your  being.  You  may  be  able 
to  ' '  counterpart  the  dance  and  trance  of  Shakes- 
peare's  art;"  you  may  be  trained  intellectually 
until  all  the  realm  of  scientific  knowledge  is 
your  playground;  you  may  have  all  the  gifts 
and  graces  of  mind  and  body,  but  if  you  have 
forgotten  that  you  were  made  for  love,  for  duty, 
for  self-sacrifice,  for  righteousness,  for  God. 
your  richest  endowments  have  been  turned  from 
their  high  and  holy  purpose  and  are  as  "withered 
plants  in  an  herbarium,"  as  words  without 
music,  the  picture  without  warmth  of  coloring. 

To  be  truly  cultured  is  to  set  free  for  ser- 
vice all  the  faculties  and  powers  with  which  the 

]Q5  The    Dignity    of    Man. 


Creator  has  dowered  you — to  give  the  Spirit  its 
opportunity  no  less  than  body  and  mind. 

Let  me  urge  you  to  go  forth  as  optimists- 
believers  in  the  moral,  material  and  spiritual 
progress  of  the  race,  because  believing  in  the 
dignity  and  divinity  of  humanity.  God  is  in 
man  and,  therefore,  the  "thoughts  of  men  will 
be  widened  with  the  process  of  xhe  suns."  God 
is  in  man,  and,  therefore,  the  world  must  grow 
better  with  each  advancing  century.  God  is  in 
man,  and,  therefore,  music  shall  be  yet  touched 
with  a  divine  strain,  literature  shall  more  and 
more  be  consecrated  to  life,  and  science  shall  be- 
come a  holy  shrine  in  the  temple  of  our  God. 
And  so  the  vision  widens  and  grows  more 
beautiful  until  faith  and  dreams  are  lost  in  the 
radiant  reality  of  eternity.    And  then — 

Only  the  Master  shall  praise  us, 

And  only  the  Master  shall  blame, 
And  no  one  shall  work  for  money, 

And  no  one  shall  work  for  fame, 
But  each  for  the  joy  of  the  working, 

And  each  in  his  separate  star, 
Shall  draw  the  thing    as  he  sees  it, 

For  the  God  of  things  as  they  are. 

Carry  faith  and  hope  and  love  into  the  work 
of  the  world  and  you  shall  be  as  welcome  as  the 
breath  of  Summer  flowers,  and  your  presence 
shall  be  as  the  benediction  that  follows  after 
prayer. 


The  End. 


The   Dignity   of  Man.  136 


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SIP  1 0  1962 
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AUC 


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1964 

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DEC  11  1964 

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